Maybe happiness does have a price
It's that time of the year, when it seems like there is more money going out of our bank accounts than is going into them. The holidays are a time for giving, but can material things buy happiness?
It's something that we all knew on some level. Happiness (or at least peace of mind) can be bought. This was confirmed recently by an article published in the Journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors based their findings on an analysis of a survey called The Gallup World Poll, which was one of the first samplings done of the earth to explore why happiness is associated with higher incomes.
Financial security leads to better health, both physically and mentally. One doesn't have to worry about having enough money to cover the necessities of life. But what is the price of poverty? The Ontario Association of Food Banks in their publication The Cost of Poverty determined that "when both private and public (or social) costs are combined, the total cost of poverty in Ontario is equal to 5.5 to 6.6 percent of Ontario's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"
So as we are so often reminded, that it is better to give than to receive, spread a bit of happiness. Happy Holidays!
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