Estonian Human Development Report

Figure 3.3.4. Percentage of people who are satisfied
or very satisfied with their lives by monthly net
household income (%)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
51
61
0
5,000
and less
5001–10000 10001–15000 15001–20000 20,000
and more
Household net income in the month preceding the survey (EEK)
Source: European Social Survey 2006.
Figure 3.3.5. Percentage of people satisfied or very
satisfied with their lives by state-of-health assessment
(%)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
90
79
0
Very good Good Satisfactory Bad Very bad
How would you rate your overall state of health?
Source: European Social Survey 2006.
72
56
among Estonian residents with higher education than
among respondents with basic education. The level of
education affects people’s assessments of their satisfaction
with life even if the effect of age and income has been
taken into account. As many earlier studies (Lucas 2007;
Realo 2006) have indicated, people’s work-related status
is another significant factor influencing their satisfaction
with life: the rate of satisfaction with life is lower
in the case of unemployed people (27%) and those who
are not able to work due to a disability (42%), whereas
nearly 88% of students are satisfied or very satisfied with
their lives.
To what degree do wealth and material well-being
increase the happiness of Estonian residents? Many
researchers are of the opinion that most people in the
world are sufficiently happy regardless of their income
and material situation (Biswas-Diener et al. 2005). There
is, however, a moderate positive connection between
people’s level of income and their satisfaction with life,
and this connection increases in strength in economically
less well-to-do countries (Diener & Biswas-Diener
2002). If Estonian residents are divided into groups based
on their income, a clear connection between income and
satisfaction with life becomes apparent: only half of the
people whose family’s monthly net income is lower than
5000 kroons (Figure 3.3.4.) are satisfied with their lives.
82
34
85
30
The rate of satisfaction is more than 30% higher among
Estonian residents whose monthly income exceeds
20,000 kroons. This indicates that an increase in income
also increases people’s sense of happiness and satisfaction.
At the same time, according to a study conducted in
the spring of 2008 (Arakas 2008), the richest people in
Estonia, i.e. the ones who ranked among the first 150 of
the list of top 500 richest people in Estonia compiled by
the business newspaper Äripäev in 2007 (Raidla et al.
2007), did not prove to be happier than people whose family’s
monthly net income exceeded 30,000 kroons. This
means that there is a certain point up to which money can
buy happiness and when that point is surpassed, any further
increase in wealth does not automatically bring about
a greater sense of happiness and satisfaction. Or in other
words: money does not equal happiness, but neither do
economic hardship and poverty.
Is there a connection between Estonian residents’ satisfaction
with life and their state of health? Generally people
who believe they are healthy are more satisfied with
life (or inversely, the happier people are, the healthier they
believe themselves to be). The percentage of people satisfied
with their life is three times smaller (30%) among
Estonian residents who believe their state of health to be
very bad than among residents who believe their state of
health to be very good (90%; Figure 3.3.5.).
Yet the connection between health and subjective
well-being exists only if the respondents are asked to
assess their own health. As soon as researchers consider
more objective indicators of the respondents’ state of
health or assessments of their state of health provided by
doctors, the connection becomes weaker or disappears
completely (Diener & Biswas-Diener 2008; Johansson
2008; Okun & George 1984). It can be concluded that an
individual’s satisfaction with life is affected more by how
they perceive their own state of health (i.e. if they consider
themselves to be unwell or healthy) than by their
actual state of health as characterized by certain objective
indicators.
Conclusion
Compared to, for example, Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands,
where 98% and 96% of respondents, respectively,
were satisfied with their lives in the autumn of 2007, life
in Estonia seems somewhat more dismal. It is naturally
conspicuous that satisfaction with life is generally lower
in the newer and/or poorer EU member states. The easiest
explanation for this is that Estonia, along with the other
stragglers, has not yet reached (or has only just entered)
the “post-materialist” stage of development where more
money does not equal more happiness. This is confirmed
by Estonia’s position on the World Values Survey map prepared
by Ronald Inglehart (1997): the people of Estonia
are still fighting for security and survival and do not have
enough time or means to devote to self-education and selfexpression,
which in turn are necessary for achieving satisfaction
with life. Meanwhile, Estonian residents’ satisfaction
with life has increased significantly during the past
four or five years, thus reflecting Estonia’s economic development
and the considerable positive social changes that
have occurred.
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