Why Learning Leads To Happiness

Why Learning Leads To Happiness: "In a paper published earlier this year by the National Bureau of Economic Research, authors David Cutler and Adriana Lleras-Muney reviewed education-longevity research around the world. "Education not only predicts mortality in the U.S., it is also a large predictor of health in most countries, regardless of their level of development." They cited research that 25-year-olds with some college education in 1980 could expect to live another 54.4 years, on average, whereas 25-year-olds with high school degrees had life expectancies of another 51.6 years, or nearly three years less. A similar study in 2000—only 20 years later—found that the life-expectancy gap between those with some college and high school graduates had increased to seven years.

Some studies attribute all or most of the education benefit to simply making more money, but not all researchers agree. "While income level best predicts how quickly people decline after they get sick," Carstensen says, "education predicts whether or not people get sick in the first place." People with more education tend to have better problem-solving skills and the tools to help themselves, she explains. They enhance their health and survival odds by making well-informed lifestyle decisions."

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