Generally speaking, are rich people happier than poor people? How do you explain your answer ?

Question

Generally speaking, are rich people happier than poor people? How do you explain your answer in light of the current pursuit of higher education?

Answer 1

I don't think so. My family and I live well below the poverty level, but we have more peace of mind than wealthy people can ever know.  I have a lot of skills that I barter with neighbors for things we need, and we have learned to separate needs from wants.  Our cabin is in the woods, near a creek, so we're able to forage, fish and hunt.  We never go hungry.  We don't have anything worth stealing, so we don't lock our doors.  What we do have is enough.  I define success by the amount one can do without.  We're very content here with me, the hubby, our daughter, two goats, a dog, three cats, and the chickens.  I wouldn't mind having a pig, though. I'll have to see if the neighbors would be willing to trade a piglet for some labor.

As far as the pursuit of higher education, I have a BS in Anthropology and Archaelogy.  I have never used them professionally, but living out here in the woods I gained a good bit of practical knowledge from my studies.

Answer 2

To me, it depends on how they got to be rich/poor. Class is reproductive, and it seems to me that the *children* of rich people are typically much unhappier than the children of poor people.

As adults, rich people obviously have a better "quality of life," when they can afford to go to college and feed their kids. There are many less things to worry about when you're rich. The pursuit of higher education will be more stressful for someone coming from a lower-income family, but they'll generally appreciate the education more and enjoy the day-to-day experience.

To balance out the stress and adversity of being poor, poor people do tend to be more religious and all religions provide a theodicy: an explanation for evil in the world. So many of them find happiness in worship and investing in the riches that they believe await them in the afterlife.

Generally speaking, I'll say that the children of poor people and the rich adults are happiest.

Answer 3

I don't think happiness can be divided by income. I know people with wealth who are unhappy, and people who are poor who are happy.

Money does not beget happiness.