Women's Happiness Recession Proof

9 December 2008 - As the world grapples with a global recession and financial markets remain volatile, many people are reminding themselves that money can't buy happiness. Men however, beg to differ.

Results of a global happiness survey from The Nielsen Company reveal that men are happier with money, while women are happier with friendships and relationships with their children, co-workers and bosses.

"Because they are happier with non-economic factors, women's happiness is more recession-proof, which might explain why women around the world are happier in general than men are," said Susanna Baggaley, Executive Director, The Nielsen Company, New Zealand.

The 51-country Nielsen Happiness Study, which polled 28,153 respondents online in May 2008, found that globally, women are happier than men in 48 of the 51 countries surveyed, and only in Brazil, South Africa and Vietnam were men found to be happier than women. Japanese women reported the greatest difference and are 15 percent happier than Japanese men. Women are also more optimistic about the future, scoring higher than men on predictions of their happiness in the next six months.

According to the Nielsen survey, there are three main drivers of happiness globally: personal financial situation, mental health and job/career. Being satisfied with your partner is also important for happiness in many markets and in New Zealand it was found that women were slightly happier in their relationship with their spouse than men.