Higher income is associated with greater life satisfaction, and more stress

Abstract

Is there a cost to our well-being from increased affluence? Drawing upon responses from 2.05 million U.S. adults from the Gallup Daily Poll from 2008 to 2017 we find that with household income above ~$63,000 respondents are more likely to experience stress. This contrasts with the trend below this threshold, where at higher income the prevalence of stress decreases. Such a turning point for stress was also found for population sub-groups, divided by gender, race, and political affiliation. Further, we find that respondents who report prior-day stress have lower life satisfaction for all income and sub-group categories compared to the respondents who do not report prior-day stress. We find suggestive evidence that among the more satisfied, healthier, socially connected, and those not suffering basic needs deprivations, this turn-around in stress prevalence starts at lower values of income and stress. We hypothesize that stress at higher income values relates to lifestyle factors associated with affluence, rather than from known well-being deprivations related to good health and social conditions, which may arise even at lower income values if conventional needs are met. Using cubic splines to investigate turning points in the stress-income relationship indicates turning points at lower income and stress levels for the those who are highly satisfied, healthier, socially connected, and whose basic needs have been met.