Economic prosperity and happiness in China might be correlated if inequality is low

For an extended period of time, philosophers have deliberated upon the complex correlation that exists between wealth and happiness. Aristotle and Solon argued against the euphoric powers of wealth, whereas the Easterlin Paradox contends that a country's economic strength can influence its citizens' health and happiness. In China, there's not much evidence to back up this assertion, especially in light of the nation's recent economic boom and fast industrialization.

Huang and colleagues studied the impact of national economic growth on subjective well-being (a person's self-assessed level of happiness) in 31 mainland Chinese provinces between 2010 and 2020. The researchers utilised two data points obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics of China in order to monitor economic health: per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and the Gini coefficient, an indicator of income inequality. The researchers safely examined public content from 644,243 Weibo users to determine the subjective well-being of Chinese citizens. Natural language processing was utilised by the researchers to quantify and analyse the tone of each post.

The findings indicate that subjective well-being increased in tandem with GDP per capita growth in all provinces between 2010 and 2020 (by 0.38 units for each 46.70% increase in GDP per capita). There exists a negative correlation between subjective well-being and greater income inequality (a decline of 1.47 units for each 0.09 unit increase in the Gini coefficient). Specifically, the relationship between the economy and mental health is severed when the Gini coefficient surpasses 0.609.

The fact that the majority of participants were literate social media users and resided in affluent Eastern China may limit the applicability of the findings to other populations. Further research could also look into wealth disparities within specific communities (rather than provinces). Nonetheless, the researchers state that their study "advocates for a balanced approach to economic planning" and they encourage adopting policies that combat income disparities and foster sustainable economic growth.

The authors further emphasise: "The equilibrium between economic growth and income equality is crucial for improving well-being in China, underscoring the nuanced interplay between prosperity and equitable wealth distribution for true happiness."

Reference: Feng Huang, Huimin Ding, Nuo Han, Fumeng Li, Tingshao Zhu. Does wealth equate to happiness? an 11-year panel data analysis exploring socio-economic indicators and social media metrics. PLOS ONE, 2024; 19 (4): e0301206 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301206