Happiness: Lessons from a New Science

TLDR

The book argues that despite rising incomes, societies have not become happier, a paradox supported by decades of research showing stagnant happiness and rising depression, alcoholism, and crime. Layard revises and updates the work to address critics and solidify its status as the leading text in happiness studies.

Abstract

In this new edition of his landmark book, Richard Layard shows that there is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not just anecdotally true, it is the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe, and Japan. What is going on? Now fully revised and updated to include developments since first publication, Layard answers his critics in what is still the key book in 'happiness studies'.