Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/216452 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 13140
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using the 2012-13 American Time Use Survey, I find that both who people spend time with and how they spend it affect their happiness, adjusted for numerous demographic and economic variables. Satisfaction among married individuals increases most with additional time spent with spouse. Among singles, satisfaction decreases most as more time is spent alone. Assuming that lockdowns constrain married people to spend time solely with their spouses, simulations show that their happiness may have been increased compared to before the lockdowns; but sufficiently large losses of work time and income reverse this inference. Simulations demonstrate clearly that, assuming lockdowns impose solitude on singles, their happiness was reduced, reductions that are made more severe by income and work losses.
Subjects: 
Coronavirus
time use
happiness
isolation
well-being
COVID-19
JEL: 
I12
J22
I31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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