Gender and Happiness in Italy

Mariachiara Di Cesare, Università di Roma "La Sapienza"
Alessia Amori, Università di Roma "La Sapienza"

The main goal of this paper is the analysis of gender differences in the determinants of happiness -“the meaning of which everybody knows but the definition of which nobody can give”. The study focuses on how the three roles - partner, parent and worker - affect the level of happiness, board on European Social Survey (ESS) 2002/2003 data, in Italy. Results show the strong effect of civil status, health, interpersonal relationship, religiousness, satisfaction with own country situation, area of residence, and income on individual happiness. Considering men and women separately the outcome pattern of happiness seems to be different: women happiness is affected by the educational level, marital status, and social interaction while men happiness depends mainly on occupational status. The interaction of the three main roles has no effect for men while it has for women. Thus, results show interesting gender differences in the determinants of happiness.