Changes in Subjective Well-Being in India

Abstract

Despite the growing literature on subjective well-being (SWB), few studies have focused on developing countries. Applying robust OLS and ordered probit models to the India Human Development Survey panel data in 2005 and 2012, we empirically assess SWB changes in 2005–2012, based on a self-reported measure of changes in economic well-being, as a function of household and state covariates in 2005. This is in sharp contrast with earlier studies’ focus on the levels of SWB. Another point of departure of our study is to compare the covariates of SWB changes with those of objective well-being (OWB) changes, proxied by the relative growth in real per capita household consumption expenditure between 2005 and 2012, to identify specific micro-level correlates of SWB changes. Households with an older and educated head in a larger household, located in urban areas or affluent states in 2005 tend to experience improvement in both SWB and OWB between 2005 and 2012. In contrast, households with a female household head, with more male members in the labour market, with regular access to mass media, without members suffering from non-communicable diseases or disabilities are more likely to be better off subjectively without experiencing the corresponding improvement in OWB. The policy challenges raise serious concerns.