The Origins of Happiness

The Origins of Happiness

Finally, we come to crime. From the British Cohort Study

we can estimate that a crime committed under the age of

34 reduces the criminal’s happiness by 0.30 point- years.^10

But, using data from the British Crime Survey, it reduces the

happiness of the rest of the population about 1 point- year.

How the Child Predicts the Adult

The information so far tells us what we could achieve by

directly influencing the situation of an adult. But another

way to influence adults is through altering their childhood.

In Table 16.3 we examine the three main dimensions of

child development and ask how well they predict the result-

ing adult. Column (1) shows the effects on life- satisfaction.

The best predictor of how far adults are satisfied with their

lives is not their academic performance but their emotional

health in childhood. Neither their academic performance

nor their behavior— the central focuses for educators— is as

important for them as their emotional health.

Table 16.3. How adult life- satisfaction (0– 10) and behavior are pre-

dicted by child outcomes (British Cohort Study)(cross- section)

Units

Adult life-

satisfaction

(0– 10)

Number

of crimes

before 30

Highest
qualification

SD (index) 0.12 −0.50

Good behavior
at 16

SD (index) 0.06 −0.50

Emotional health
at 16

SD (index) 0.18 −0.04