. 2021 Sep 19;160(1):35–113. doi: 10.1007/s11205-021-02740-5

Table 3.

The gender happiness paradox (determinants of life satisfaction and depression)

Variables	Probit	Ordered Probit	OLS
	(1)	(2)	(3)
	Depression	Life satisfaction	Life satisfaction
Female	0.178***	0.116***	0.175***
Female	(0.030)	(0.011)	(0.017)
Age class
0–19	0.140**	0.135***	0.214***
0–19	(0.058)	(0.024)	(0.041)
20–29	0.071**	0.133***	0.211***
20–29	(0.029)	(0.015)	(0.024)
30–39	0.030	0.078***	0.116***
30–39	(0.030)	(0.010)	(0.017)
50–59	−0.071***	0.031***	0.051***
50–59	(0.019)	(0.012)	(0.018)
60–69	−0.177***	0.123***	0.186***
60–69	(0.032)	(0.024)	(0.036)
70–79	−0.242***	0.197***	0.301***
70–79	(0.042)	(0.028)	(0.039)
80–89	−0.244***	0.253***	0.390***
80–89	(0.041)	(0.038)	(0.057)
90+	−0.220**	0.254***	0.388***
90+	(0.092)	(0.044)	(0.066)
Employment status
Student	−0.031	0.040***	0.083***
Student	(0.032)	(0.013)	(0.021)
Unemployed, active	0.138***	−0.175***	−0.321***
Unemployed, active	(0.033)	(0.021)	(0.039)
Unemployed, not active	0.174***	−0.141***	−0.260***
Unemployed, not active	(0.048)	(0.022)	(0.038)
Retired	−0.033	0.061***	0.091***
Retired	(0.031)	(0.012)	(0.019)
Household’s income
2	−0.007	0.016	0.062**
2	(0.038)	(0.014)	(0.027)
3	−0.034	0.026	0.087***
3	(0.037)	(0.017)	(0.031)
4	−0.038	0.019	0.083**
4	(0.030)	(0.018)	(0.032)
5	−0.057	0.032	0.107***
5	(0.037)	(0.020)	(0.036)
6	−0.071*	0.044**	0.135***
6	(0.039)	(0.019)	(0.033)
7	−0.062	0.066***	0.168***
7	(0.047)	(0.022)	(0.037)
8	−0.085**	0.061***	0.166***
8	(0.040)	(0.022)	(0.038)
9	−0.087*	0.075***	0.190***
9	(0.047)	(0.025)	(0.040)
10	−0.200***	0.086***	0.188***
10	(0.064)	(0.024)	(0.040)
Household size	−0.013	0.044***	0.066***
Household size	(0.009)	(0.005)	(0.007)
Education status
No or unfinished	0.039	0.084*	0.102
No or unfinished	(0.055)	(0.046)	(0.070)
Primary	0.203***	0.080***	0.061
Primary	(0.037)	(0.028)	(0.039)
Lower Secondary	0.154***	0.009	−0.038
Lower Secondary	(0.035)	(0.028)	(0.042)
Upper Secondary	0.044	0.019	−0.006
Upper Secondary	(0.028)	(0.020)	(0.029)
Post-Secondary	0.074**	−0.003	−0.030
Post-Secondary	(0.030)	(0.018)	(0.027)
First Level Tertiary	0.029	0.029*	0.023
First Level Tertiary	(0.029)	(0.016)	(0.023)
Second Level Tertiary	0.026	0.003	−0.002
Second Level Tertiary	(0.040)	(0.011)	(0.018)
Marital status
Registered partner	0.095	−0.165***	−0.265***
Registered partner	(0.067)	(0.037)	(0.064)
Separated	0.314***	−0.464***	−0.751***
Separated	(0.067)	(0.032)	(0.045)
Divorced	0.110***	−0.253***	−0.404***
Divorced	(0.025)	(0.015)	(0.028)
Widowed	0.175***	−0.315***	−0.500***
Widowed	(0.028)	(0.029)	(0.044)
Never Married	0.037*	−0.271***	−0.399***
Never Married	(0.019)	(0.017)	(0.027)
Self health
Good	0.206***	−0.318***	−0.426***
Good	(0.030)	(0.017)	(0.027)
Fair	0.579***	−0.601***	−0.890***
Fair	(0.033)	(0.026)	(0.040)
Bad	1.101***	−0.922***	−1.514***
Bad	(0.043)	(0.036)	(0.056)
Very Bad	1.584***	−1.255***	−2.251***
Very Bad	(0.070)	(0.041)	(0.072)
Social meeting
Less than once a month	−0.291***	0.199***	0.467***
Less than once a month	(0.056)	(0.040)	(0.073)
Once a month	−0.414***	0.358***	0.776***
Once a month	(0.061)	(0.041)	(0.074)
Several times a month	−0.568***	0.459***	0.955***
Several times a month	(0.050)	(0.039)	(0.071)
Once a week	−0.501***	0.491***	1.001***
Once a week	(0.052)	(0.041)	(0.073)
Several times a week	−0.572***	0.610***	1.178***
Several times a week	(0.049)	(0.040)	(0.072)
Every day	−0.525***	0.738***	1.336***
Every day	(0.048)	(0.038)	(0.071)
Placement on left right scale
1	−0.098**	−0.102***	−0.111***
1	(0.039)	(0.021)	(0.034)
2	−0.077*	−0.155***	−0.169***
2	(0.043)	(0.024)	(0.040)
3	−0.077**	−0.174***	−0.177***
3	(0.033)	(0.027)	(0.043)
4	−0.049	−0.190***	−0.192***
4	(0.041)	(0.023)	(0.036)
5	−0.116***	−0.078***	−0.040
5	(0.029)	(0.027)	(0.045)
6	−0.099***	−0.128***	−0.083
6	(0.036)	(0.031)	(0.049)
7	−0.136***	−0.107***	−0.052
7	(0.038)	(0.029)	(0.047)
8	−0.049	0.015	0.109*
8	(0.034)	(0.032)	(0.054)
9	−0.116**	0.094***	0.230***
9	(0.057)	(0.030)	(0.051)
10	−0.049	0.236***	0.361***
10	(0.051)	(0.043)	(0.067)
Feeling about Household’s income nowadays
Copying on present income	0.097***	−0.238***	−0.312***
Copying on present income	(0.022)	(0.015)	(0.026)
Difficult on present income	0.334***	−0.519***	−0.801***
Difficult on present income	(0.031)	(0.030)	(0.052)
Very difficult on present income	0.627***	−0.804***	−1.405***
Very difficult on present income	(0.040)	(0.037)	(0.073)
Wave dummies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Country dummies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Constant	−1.314***		6.278***
Constant	(0.062)		(0.100)
Observations	92,582	197,882	197,882
Pseudo R-Squared	0.178	0.0816
R-Squared			0.297
Country effects
Country
Austria	−0.327***	0.233***	0.442***
Austria	(0.031)	(0.029)	(0.049)
Belgium	−0.119***	0.390***	0.768***
Belgium	(0.030)	(0.020)	(0.034)
Bulgaria	−0.297***	−0.394***	−0.689***
Bulgaria	(0.023)	(0.024)	(0.034)
Switzerland	−0.218***	0.530***	0.916***
Switzerland	(0.034)	(0.022)	(0.037)
Cyprus	−0.252***	0.331***	0.666***
Cyprus	(0.022)	(0.024)	(0.041)
Czech Republic	0.177***	0.011	0.137***
Czech Republic	(0.027)	(0.019)	(0.030)
Germany	−0.181***	0.381***	0.697***
Germany	(0.031)	(0.018)	(0.031)
Denmark	−0.317***	0.674***	1.098***
Denmark	(0.031)	(0.026)	(0.041)
Estonia	−0.265***	0.230***	0.466***
Estonia	(0.021)	(0.018)	(0.030)
Spain	−0.173***	0.433***	0.827***
Spain	(0.027)	(0.017)	(0.029)
Finland	−0.646***	0.630***	1.086***
Finland	(0.027)	(0.030)	(0.049)
France	−0.079***	0.097***	0.305***
France	(0.029)	(0.018)	(0.032)
United Kingdom	−0.198***	0.311***	0.599***
United Kingdom	(0.028)	(0.028)	(0.047)
Greece		−0.236***	−0.262***
Greece		(0.034)	(0.050)
Croatia		−0.073***	0.004
Croatia		(0.022)	(0.037)
Hungary	0.039	0.013	0.072**
Hungary	(0.024)	(0.018)	(0.027)
Ireland	−0.317***	0.174***	0.378***
Ireland	(0.026)	(0.025)	(0.043)
Israel	−0.148***	0.298***	0.582***
Israel	(0.020)	(0.023)	(0.041)
Iceland	−0.192***	0.529***	0.911***
Iceland	(0.018)	(0.023)	(0.037)
Italy	−0.239***	0.117***	0.350***
Italy	(0.016)	(0.016)	(0.028)
Lithuania	−0.336***	−0.041*	−0.000
Lithuania	(0.027)	(0.023)	(0.036)
Latvia	−0.214***	0.015	0.118**
Latvia	(0.046)	(0.031)	(0.048)
Netherlands	−0.348***	0.390***	0.789***
Netherlands	(0.032)	(0.020)	(0.034)
Norway	−0.503***	0.482***	0.845***
Norway	(0.029)	(0.024)	(0.040)
Poland	0.005	0.351***	0.630***
Poland	(0.029)	(0.017)	(0.029)
Portugal	−0.258***	−0.017	0.106***
Portugal	(0.025)	(0.021)	(0.033)
Romania		−0.042	0.045
Romania		(0.029)	(0.044)
Russian Federatio	−0.129***	0.011	0.052
Russian Federatio	(0.032)	(0.021)	(0.031)
Sweden	−0.216***	0.338***	0.652***
Sweden	(0.030)	(0.030)	(0.052)
Slovenia	−0.463***	0.228***	0.466***
Slovenia	(0.026)	(0.017)	(0.031)
Slovakia	−0.173***	0.054***	0.222***
Slovakia	(0.030)	(0.017)	(0.028)
Turkey		−0.626***	−1.140***
Turkey			(0.070)
Ukraine	−0.107***	−0.110***	−0.177***
Ukraine	(0.024)	(0.022)	(0.032)
Kosovo	−0.054***	−0.227***	−0.277***
Kosovo	(0.016)	(0.010)	(0.015)
Observations	92,582	197,882	197,882
Pseudo R-Squared	0.178	0.0816
R-Squared			0.297

Omitted benchmarks: age class between 40 and 49; paid workers class of the employment relation; first (lowest income) class of the household’s net income; “Upper Tertiary” class for education status; “Married” class for marital status; “Very Good” class of self-assessed health; “Never” class of social meeting; the 0 (extreme left) class of placement in the political opinion left-right scale; “Living Comfortably on present income” in the Feeling about Household’s income question, Albania for country dummies. Dependent variable is “depression” in (1), while life satisfaction in (2) and (3). Estimates in (1) and (2) are obtained using the “probit” (and ordered-probit) regression, while in (3) using the “OLS” regression. Clustered (for country) standard errors in parentheses.

*** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, *p<0.1