nep-hap 2026-09-28 papers

on Economics of Happiness

Issue of 2026–09–28
two papers chosen by
Viviana Di Giovinazzo, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Intra-Household Relative Income and Happiness: The Role of Unpaid Work Division During COVID and Afterwards By Magdalena Grabowska
Household adjustment to economic shocks: Saving, consumption smoothing, and life satisfaction By Peter Tóth

Intra-Household Relative Income and Happiness: The Role of Unpaid Work Division During COVID and Afterwards

By:	Magdalena Grabowska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam))
Abstract:	Rising female employment and earnings have transformed partners’ economic positions, while gender divisions in unpaid labor persist. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the organization of paid and unpaid work, opening a window to reassess these two dimensions within couples. Using longitudinal panel data from Poland (2021–2024), this paper examines how relative income and the division of unpaid labor relate to both life satisfaction and partner satisfaction among partnered adults. Random-effects models reveal distinct gendered patterns. For men, these dynamics are associated primarily with global life satisfaction: men report higher life satisfaction when they out-earn their partners, but substantially lower life satisfaction when they are out-earned and primarily responsible for domestic work. For women, effects concentrate in partner satisfaction: women who out-earn their partners report lower partner satisfaction when they also perform most domestic labor. These patterns hold for both housework and childcare and are observed primarily in the post-pandemic period.
Keywords:	relative income, unpaid labor division, subjective well-being, intra-couple income distribution, Poland
JEL:	I31 J12 J16 D13
Date:	2026
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2026-28

Household adjustment to economic shocks: Saving, consumption smoothing, and life satisfaction

By:	Peter Tóth (Národná banka Slovenska; Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave)
Abstract:	This presentation examines how households adjust to large economic shocks and how these responses shape life satisfaction. Using panel data from the Slovak household finance and consumption survey combined with district-level variation in COVID-19 severity, the analysis distinguishes between exposure to the shock, household adjustment, and the transmission of these adjustments into life satisfaction. Empirically, the presentation combines a difference-in-differences design with a mediation framework to examine how shock severity affected income, consumption, wealth, and saving behavior and how these changes were reflected in life satisfaction. The results reveal substantial and uneven economic disruption beneath stable average life satisfaction. Income losses and consumption adjustments are concentrated toward the upper end of the preshock income and consumption distributions, indicating marked heterogeneity in exposure. Households most affected by income losses adjust through saving decumulation and reductions in discretionary consumption, while basic consumption remains comparatively stable. These patterns are consistent with intertemporal consumption smoothing. Despite substantial economic adjustment, the transmission of these changes into life satisfaction is limited. The resulting indirect effects operating through income, consumption, and wealth are small and statistically insignificant. The findings show that the absence of an average effect reflects attenuated transmission rather than limited economic disruption. More broadly, the results underscore that the welfare consequences of large shocks depend not only on exposure but also on the mechanisms through which households adjust and absorb disruption.
URL:	https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:carp26:06

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