South Africans income

Can money buy happiness?

The Gallup World poll, which asked over 1.7 million people from different parts of the world to rate their happiness on a scale of 1-10, and then measured this rating against their household income and other socio-economic factors.

The survey found that the happiness steadily rose in relation to how much a person earns – but only up to a certain point – this is known as the ‘satiation’ point: the level where a person was sufficiently satisfied so that no matter how much more they earned, it did not significantly impact how happy they felt.

How much money makes people happy

People are globally satisfied at $95,000 (approximately R1.13 million) – but also that emotional well-being was satiated at between $60,000 and $75,000 (R710,000 to R890,000).

Earning too much money can also affect your happiness, due to a higher workload and less free time.

South African earning more than R1 million a year (the global average happiness level), might not be any happier than someone earning $40,000 (R475,000 – the regional happiness level).