Are socialists happier than capitalists?
June 9, 2009
Driven by a decline in satisfaction with work life
and family life, overall well-being initially plummeted in countries directly
affected by the fall of the Iron Curtain, reveals an important new study.
The research, forthcoming in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of
Economic Behavior and Organization, expands our understanding of the correlation
between happiness and democracy — and whether economic concerns outweigh
political reforms in their impact on subjective well-being.
"Although
one might suppose these questions are of interest — some might even say
fundamental interest, considering that they involve comparing capitalism and
socialism — they have received little attention in the voluminous literature on
transition economies," says Richard Easterlin, USC University Professor and
professor of economics at USC.
Easterlin examines life satisfaction in
thirteen countries in the so-called communist-bloc using self-reported data from
a range of sources, particularly the World Values Survey. Communist-bloc
countries first appeared in the large-scale Survey in 1989, when a
representative population in each country was asked to rate "life these days, as
a whole" on a scale of 1 (dissatisfied) to 10 (satisfied).
Other surveys
before and after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 asked similar questions
about specific aspects of life — such as work, health, and standard of living —
and about "the way democracy works in (your country)."
"The dissolution
of the police states and increase in political and civil rights in many of the
transition countries might have been expected to increase life satisfaction,"
Easterlin says. "The sharp decline that initially occurred suggests that adverse
economic and social conditions trumped the political in their impact on
subjective well-being."
The study finds that the trend in overall
satisfaction with democracy is actually slightly negatively correlated to the
trend in reported happiness after the fall of the Iron Curtain. This correlation
is not statistically significant, according to Easterlin, but undermines the
assertion by some scholars that democratization in these countries significantly
increased happiness.
"There is evidence that, when asked about their
sources of well-being, people rarely mention political circumstances," Easterlin
explains. "Rather, they put foremost those concerns that principally occupy
their time, most notably making a living, family life and health."
Satisfaction with work, childcare and health all decreased significantly
during the transition from socialism to capitalism, reflecting a marked rise in
symptoms of social stress such as divorce rates, suicide rates, domestic
violence and increased alcoholism and drug use, Easterlin finds.
However, people were much more satisfied with one particular aspect of
their lives after the fall of the Soviet Union: their material circumstances,
including standard of living, goods availability and the environment.
"The positive contribution of life satisfaction to improved material
living was outweighed by losses in employment security, health and child care,
and provision for old age," Easterlin says.
Disparities in life
satisfaction also increased after the fall of the Soviet Union, particularly
along the lines of age and education. Those older than 30, who had already
established careers under the socialist system, were far more likely to be
dissatisfied with life under capitalism than younger adults. Older people also
faced the deterioration of old-age pension support and rising unemployment
rates.
Men and women had about equal declines in life satisfaction,
Easterlin finds.
"The human cost of the transition was enormous, with
the lives of millions turned upside down," Easterlin says. "The impact of these
changes on people's personal lives and their well-being is almost totally missed
by GDP per capita."
While life satisfaction had rebounded somewhat by
1999, there is evidence to suggest that even by 2005 it had not yet reach
pre-transition levels, according to the study. By this time, GDP in the
countries studied had increased 25 percent on average since the collapse of the
Soviet Union.
"The life satisfaction measure, which reflects not only
material well-being, but the everyday concerns and worries of women and men
about work, health and family, is more indicative of the far-reaching changes
that were taking place," Easterlin says.
He continues: "Life
satisfaction is not an exhaustive measure of well-being. But if, in formulating
transition policy, some consideration had been given to this measure, perhaps
there would have been fewer 'lost in transition.'"
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University of Southern California