Does money bring happiness ? This is the question that INSEE tried to answer in a working document this June. Based on five studies carried out on the subject, a financial satisfaction threshold was established. In its study, INSEE also looked at the relationship between “wealth” and “happiness”.
To define this “satiety threshold”, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies based itself on five surveys on the subject which were carried out over the period from 2010 to 2019. In France, the level of income from which the people questioned consider themselves “happy” amounts to almost 30,000 euros per year and per person. A level significantly lower than that of other European countries.
“ We highlight a satiety threshold, for life satisfaction, of 30,000 euros per year per person in France, 40,000 euros in Germany, 45,000 euros in the United Kingdom, 60,000 euros in Australia and 80,000 euros in the UNITED STATES », Explains INSEE. In France, the satiety threshold is therefore 2,500 euros per month, according to this INSEE working document.
However, it is useful to specify that this threshold is not the same in all areas of the country. Indeed, people living in cities with less than 5,000 inhabitants have a distinctly lower satiety threshold than those who reside in large cities, such as Paris. In detail, respondents from small towns consider themselves satisfied from 26,059 euros per year, compared to 31,800 euros for residents of large towns.
Does happiness depend on wealth?
Furthermore, this INSEE study (which was carried out over a period from 2010 to 2019) reveals that life satisfaction in France stands at 7.3 out of 10 on average. Even when income increases, this satisfaction only increases very slightly. According to the study carried out by INSEE, it is indeed necessary to “ that income is multiplied by 12 so that the score increases by 0.5 “.
Wealth would therefore not be linked to happiness. Moreover, INSEE indicates that beyond the satiety threshold which is 30,000 euros per year, “ increases in income cease entirely to improve the frequency of moments of happiness », Says the study. According to INSEE, being one of the people who are considered rich (earning more than 3,860 euros per month according to the Observatory of Inequalities) would have no real impact on the life satisfaction of the French.
