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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2026–02–02
two papers chosen by Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca |
| By: | David G. Blanchflower; Alex Bryson |
| Abstract: | The worsening mental health of young workers in the United States drives the disappearance of the U-shape in wellbeing and the hump-shape in illbeing in the last decade. Illbeing declines in age among workers but is hump-shaped among non-workers across all US states. This has been the case for some time and is apparent in our analyses of two large US datasets with long time runs - the Behavioral Risk Survey System 1993-2025 and the National Health Interview Survey of 1997-2024. Although the mental health of workers and non-workers has been declining it has been deteriorating most quickly among young workers, leading to a steepening in the age gradient of mental illbeing for workers. Improvements in worker wellbeing (and declines in worker illbeing) with age are mirrored in age differences in reported working conditions in the American Job Quality Survey of 2025: six measures of job quality rise with age. Declines in mental health are most pronounced among the youngest workers ages 18-22 who are likely drawn from lower socio-economic classes and report the greatest difficulties making ends meet. |
| JEL: | I31 J28 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34696 |
| By: | Matthieu Julius Chauveau (LIREM - Laboratoire de Recherche en Management - UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour) |
| Abstract: | Reductions in state subsidies to local authorities have led to paradoxes - or contradictions - in the way French civil servants carry out their public service missions. As a result, they are experiencing increased stress and discomfort in the workplace. The 2023 edition of the "La Gazette"-MNT barometer of territorial civil servants' wellbeing (Ginibrière, 2023) shows that job satisfaction is down on 2019. Civil servants are feeling more pressure from both users and their superiors. We would like to study the antecedents of wellbeing at work among French territorial civil servants, using the Job Demands-Resources model (Demerouti et al., 2001).. The antecedents selected are Paradoxical Leadership (paradox management from New Public Management), adapted to the public sector (Backhaus et al., 2021; Y. Zhang et al., 2012) and Public Service Motivation (De Simone et al., 2016; Perry, 1996; Perry & Wise, 1990) mediated by burnout and work engagement. Our results show a strong link between these antecedents and wellbeing at work, and the interaction found between paradoxical leadership and public service motivation is a potential lever for improving civil servants' wellbeing. |
| Keywords: | Wellbeing at work, Public Management, Local Governance, Paradoxical Leadership, Public Service Motivation |
| Date: | 2024–06–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05007008 |