The Effect of Demographic Variables on Happiness

Happiness is the main goal and the pursuit of happiness is inherent in human nature. The main aim of this study has been to estimate the effects of demographic variables, such as Fertility rate, Marriage rate, and Divorce rate on Happiness. The GDP per capita, Inflation and Unemployment are used as the control variables. In order to estimate the effects, we have used panel data including 21 selected countries with different characteristics (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, United States, Romania, and Iran), for the period 2008 to 2017 are used. Concerning the F-Limer (Chow) and the Husman tests, the fixed panel Approach is used. The estimations results using panel methods with fixed effects indicates that the effects of fertility rate and GDP per capita on happiness are positive, but the effects of divorce rate and unemployment on happiness are significant and negative. The effect of inflation is positive and the effect of marriage rate is negative, but neither is significant.