Can money buy happiness? ‘Yes’ says study by Nobel prize-winning economist

Research conducted in 2010 stated that money can only boost happiness to a certain point which was then estimated to be about $75,000 in annual earnings.

"Oh! Money cannot buy happiness." How many times have we heard this? Too many to count but a new study said that happiness increases with growth in earnings and income, as per a report published in The Washington Post. The study is based on research conducted by Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman along with Princeton University's Matthew Killingsworth, the report said.

The new study was published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, according to the report. (Representational)

Contradicting research conducted in 2010 which stated that money can only boost happiness to a certain point which was then estimated to be about $75,000 in annual earnings, the new study claimed otherwise. Daniel Kahneman was among the two authors who had conducted the earlier study following which the founder of a credit card company raised his employees' minimum salaries to $70,000.

The new study was published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, according to the report. For the study, around 33,391 people living in the US and aged between 18 and 65, were surveyed by the two researchers. The people who were part of the survey had a household income of a minimum of $10,000 a year.

The responses about people's feelings were recorded through a smartphone application by the researchers which ranged from "very bad" to "very good". The study concluded that happiness does increase with growth in earnings up to $500,000 a year.

Matthew Killingsworth said, “Just one of the many determinants of happiness. Money is not the secret to happiness, but it can probably help a bit.”