Stats: After age 47, life gets brighter

Economist David Blanchflower, PhD, of Dartmouth University, Hanover, New Hampshire has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on happiness, wellbeing and life satisfaction, typically combining economics with areas of psychology and sociology. His most recent work, published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, documents a U-shaped curve of happiness over the lifespan that is relevant globally, reaching a nadir at age 48 in developed countries and 47 in less-developed countries. To define the curve, Blanchflower used various measure of well-being - in particular, happiness and life satisfaction - as well as other measures such as an individual's life experience, living standards, and where they live.