Unemployment and Happiness1. IntroductionHappiness is probably an old topic. Most experts such as psychologists, philosophers and even economists are concerned with the definition of what happiness is. However, there is no consensus on what happiness is. Happiness should depend on different people. Some people believe that happiness is the right goal in life. But other people don't think happiness is the right goal in life, because other factors may affect happiness, such as confidence, job satisfaction, family life satisfaction, marriage, etc. Therefore, happiness is a very elusive concept. , we cannot directly judge people's happiness or unhappiness. Using economics to judge happiness might be the simplest solution, although there are some imperfections, which is why we will follow the relationship between unemployment and happiness in this essay.2. Income and Happiness Most economists believe that unemployment is an unfortunate event for happiness; this has a negative influence on happiness. According to common sense, this should be related to income, because people always think that the lower the income, the more happiness is likely to decrease. But is it true? Is it better to have more income? According to Easterlin Paradox, “high income is indeed correlated with happiness, but in the long run, increased income is not correlated with increased happiness”(1). “Richard Easterlin (1974) is the first economist to seriously study the data on happiness, he concludes that money does not buy happiness (2). Two graphs clearly show that from 1945 to 1990, real GDP per capita (in 1996 US dollars) saw a huge increase, more than 5 times. For average happiness, the trend should be similar with income , but this is not the case. From 1...... middle of paper ......02. 95-110. Print.4. Frey, Bruno S. and Alois Stuzer. “Employment” Happiness and the economy: how the economy and institutions affect human well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2002. 95-110. Print.5. Frey, Bruno S. and Alois Stuzer. “Income” Happiness and the economy: how the economy and institutions affect human well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2002. 73-94. Print.6. Clark, Andrew E. and Andrew J. Oswald. “Unhappiness and unemployment. » The Economic Journal 104.424 (1994): 648-95. Print.7. Clark, Andrew E. and Andrew J. Oswald. “Unhappiness and unemployment. » The Economic Journal 104.424 (1994): 648-95. Print.8. Clark, Andrew E. and Andrew J. Oswald. “Unhappiness and unemployment. » The Economic Journal 104.424 (1994): 648-95. Print.