Sliding down the U-shape? A dynamic panel investigation of the age-well-being relationship, focusing on young adults

Abstract

Introduction: Much of the work within economics attempting to understand the relationship between age and well-being has focused on the U-shape, whether it exists and, more recently, potential reasons for its existence. This paper focuses on one part of the lifecycle rather than the whole: young people. This focus offers a better understanding of the age-well-being relationship for young people, and helps with increasing general understanding regarding the U-shape itself.

Method: The empirical estimations employ both static and dynamic panel estimations, with the latter preferred for several reasons.

Results and conclusion: The empirical results are in line with the U-shape, and the results from the dynamic analysis indicate that this result is a lifecycle effect.

Keywords: Ageing; Dynamic panel analysis; Life satisfaction; UK; Young adults.