The Compression of Unhappiness: Estimating Happy Life Expectancy in Latin America

Luisa P. Terra, Cedeplar, UFMG

We use data from the World Values Survey and life tables from the UN to estimate happy life expectancy for men and women in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The aim is to investigate whether the increase in longevity is followed by an increase in time lived with quality of life. We investigate the evolution of happy life expectancy and the compression of unhappiness for both males and females between 1995 and 2005. We find an absolute increase in happy life expectancy and that the proportion of life lived in happiness has also increased for women in all countries and for men in Argentina and Mexico. We have strong evidences that the process of compression of unhappiness happened for women in all countries and for men in Argentina and Mexico between 1995 and 2005. The results indicate that a longer life is being accompanied by a longer period of happiness.