What is Happiness? Socio-Economic Determinants of Life Satisfaction

What is happiness? This question is asked by people throughout the entire existence of mankind. Today the identification of sources of happiness and their dependence on external factors has not lost its relevance, but, on the contrary, has acquired a deeper character, since economists have also joined the study of this issue. In this paper, emphasis will be placed on the impact of the marital status of men and women, as well as the presence of children on the level of happiness. This decision was made for the reason that in the modern world, women, along with men, pay exceptionally great attention to professional and personal development, which reduces the importance of having a family and children. Thus, it is interesting to check the assumption that to date harmony and well-being in the family have lost their former significance, both for men and women. In the course of the work, it was revealed that officially registered marriage increases the satisfaction with life, both for men and women (more than civil marriage). This conclusion is extremely positive for the author of the work and proves the fact that the institution of the family has not lost its importance in the modern world. However, when considering the factor of the presence of children in the family, it was found that this regressor is not significant for both men and women.