The Origins of Happiness

Sources & Notes for Tables & Figures

Figure 9.3. What affects changes in life- satisfaction over an eight-
year interval (ELSA) (β- coefficients)
Notes: These charts show the standardized β- coefficient for each vari-
able contributing to the four sets of factors potentially contributing
to life- satisfaction. The standard deviations used for standardization
were those measured in 2012, similar to the level analysis. All esti-
mates come from an overall model mutually adjusted, meaning all
variables are included in the same model. The variables age, sex, eth-
nicity, education, changes in income, and employment status were
also included in the model.
The proportion of variance explained by the model (adjusted R^2 ) was
12%.
Abbreviation: ADL, activity of daily living.
N = 3,230.

Table 9.5. What affects changes in life- satisfaction (0– 10) over an
eight- year interval (ELSA)
Note: These are unstandardized β- coefficients for each variable con-
tributing to the four sets of factors potentially contributing to life-
satisfaction. All estimates come from a mutually adjusted overall
model.

Table 10.1. How children’s emotional well- being is affected by log
family income (ALSPAC)
Source: Online Full Table 10.1.
Notes: Robust standard errors in parentheses. Controls for father’s
unemployment, proportion of time mother worked in 1st year,
proportion of time mother worked thereafter (up to age shown),
parenting involvement, parenting strictness, family conflict, pa-
rental separation, mother’s mental health, father’s mental health,
parents’ education, mother’s age at birth, parental marital status at
birth, child’s gender, ethnicity, birth order, number of siblings, birth
weight, born prematurely, age in months at testing, and primary and
secondary school fixed effects. Emotional well- being: Standardized
self- and mother- reported SMFQ at ages 16 and 11; standardized
mother- reported internalizing SDQ at age 5. Income: income- per-
adult equivalent (£ in constant prices) measured at ages 3, 4, 7, 8,
and 11. The log income figure is the log of average income up to the
relevant age. Bold: p < .10 (2- tailed).