While money can't buy happiness, economists can estimate "life satisfaction and well-being" in terms of monetary value. In a recent study, having a pet was found to have a roughly equivalent impact on happiness to spending time with human friends or relatives.
Previous studies on the positive and negative effects of pets on human happiness have mostly shown only correlation, rather than causation, and did not quantify the effects. Michael W. Gmeiner from the London School of Economics and Adelina Gschwandtner from the University of Kent aimed to achieve both objectives in their study.
The study employed a survey of over 2,500 households in the UK, where participants rated their overall life satisfaction on a scale of 1 (not at all satisfied) to 7 (completely satisfied). After controlling for other factors, pets improved overall satisfaction by 3 to 4 points. Notably, respondents were not asked whether their pets made them happy, thereby eliminating potential bias in the results.
The economists found that the happiness from having either a cat or a dog is equivalent to having extra income of £70,000, or roughly $93,000. A previous study found that being married had the same value as this study found for pets, whereas being widowed resulted in a loss equivalent to £170,000, or $225,000. The study did not address the effect of multiple pets, so it's unclear if you can make up for the loss of a spouse by adopting a dog and a cat.
Previously:
• The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
• Achieving Happiness on just $800,000
• Bhutan's 'Gross National Happiness' backfires as 9% of its population flees
