It is not so much the loss of income as the loss of self-esteem. Job satisfaction in the United States and Britain has not increased in the past quarter century, despite higher pay. Church attendance, for one. Religion may give people a longer perspective, says Oswald. Another favorable factor is marriage.
Married men commit suicide only one-third as often as other men.
Those divorced tend to be less happy. More important, Oswald and others find, is employment. Human happiness is vulnerable to joblessness. Oswald speculates that it may be a matter of keeping up with the Joneses. What matters to someone who lives in a rich country is his or her relative income.