Women''s happiness relative to men decreasing

[LaraOnline]

In the 1970s (and as far back as post WW2), it seems the boffins who care about this sort of stuff have been measuring everyone's happiness by asking representative samples a whole bunch of questions and charting it.
What with all the improvements to women's lives, such as education and career opportunities, not to mention the loosening up of religious / sexual expectations, they have been expecting women to be increasingly happy with their lives.

For the past couple of years though, everyone in the biz been scratching their heads, because the complete opposite than expected has occurred - women's levels of life satisfaction have been falling, both relative to men's levels of happiness, and in absolute terms (compared to female levels from earlier years / decades, including from before or in the early years of the 1970s).

In absolute terms, men's levels of happiness have been rising, and it seems a new gender gap in happiness - favouring men - is developing.

This relative drop in happiness for women is measured across most industrialised countries, and across all ages and lifestyles of women. It first becomes apparent in around the final year of high school. Until then, boys and girls have similar levels of happiness, and a gender gap is not measurable.

In Europe, the stats are showing the both male and female levels of satisfaction are increasing, so absolute rates of both male and female happiness are rising ... but male happiness is growing much more quickly than female happy levels, so the gender gap is still emerging.

What is going on? Have men been the primary beneficiaries of the so-called women's revolution? If so, how did they scam that lol?

paradox of declining female happiness - study

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/13/2009 12:04:07 PM
Author:LaraOnline

What is going on? Have men been the primary beneficiaries of the so-called women's revolution? If so, how did they scam that lol?

life
yes
They didn't, they did it to themselves. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

 

[strmrdr]

Also if you look at the average age these days.
The average age of both men and women is far higher than it was in the 70s.
Just my observation and please don't jump down my throat about it but feel free to disagree..
I see that men tend to get happier and settled into their ways when they get older, a lot of women tend to dwell on what was and could have been.
That is why they spend billions on beauty treatments where men are content to go grey and bald.

 

[isaku5]

Nobody asked my opinion, but I''ll offer it anyway

. I started teaching when my older child went to kindergarten and my happiness quotient soared - I could hardly believe my good fortune ; I was being paid to do something I loved and our MILs ''held the fort''. The following year both kids were in school and I was still doing what I loved.

During those years, the ''glass ceiling'' was shattered and more and more women were in administration (and doing a fabulous job too!)

The personal gains included a much higher level of self esteem and being treated as an equal even though male teachers far outnumbered the women at the secondary level.

To the young ladies on PS, I''d say: You go, girl!! Get a great education and follow your bliss. As my dad used to say, "You''ve got the world by the tail on a downhill pull." Couldn''t have said it better myself!

As far as women''s happiness in relation to men''s decreasing, I say just the opposite is true, or perhaps both women and men are equally happy. That''s a good thing

.

 

[LaraOnline]

Date: 6/13/2009 2:34:21 PM
Author: isaku5
As far as women''s happiness in relation to men''s decreasing, I say just the opposite is true, or perhaps both women and men are equally happy. That''s a good thing

.

Yes, your experience is exactly what researchers were expecting across the board... only it didn''t happen that way,according to the stats, for the group as a whole. wierd, hey.

Also, Strm, you raise some interesting points... apparently happiness as a whole is pretty much a U-curve for the population, falling in middle age (the most unhappy you will be is in middle age, around 45 to 55) and then rising again. But even accounting for those variables of age, women of all ages are reporting a measurable drop in happiness across all agegroups and lifestyles.

Perhaps it''s the influence of the media in some way? Increasing financial pressures on women to work, as society comes to rely on the two-person income household?