What if there was a monthly amount to feel completely happy? The idea is debated. Researchers have attempted to quantify this threshold, to identify the moment when money still improves life and the moment when the effect wears off. A figure is circulating, and it shakes up preconceived ideas.
Wage of happiness: where does the figure of 5,800 euros per month come from?
An international survey carried out by Grape UK in around twenty European countries has established an optimal threshold around 70,000 euros per year, or around 5,800 euros per month net. Carried out in countries with varied standards of living – France, Luxembourg, Sweden, Italy – it observes a relationship which progresses with income then plateaus, to the point of drawing a bell curve. Participants say they are more satisfied up to this level, then satisfaction stagnates or declines beyond that.
Researchers link this drop in satisfaction to well-identified constraints, accentuated among very high incomes. Among them:
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Stress at work which increases with responsibilities;
- Reduction of personal free time;
- The intensification of social and professional obligations;
- The pressure of external expectations.
In this diagram, people earning more than 75,000 euros per year display lower satisfaction indices than those located around the “optimal” amount. The argument put forward is simple: beyond a point of balance between financial security and quality of life, the investment in time and energy no longer compensates for each other.
What the studies say: 70,000 euros, 75,000 dollars and the real limit
In the United States, a study published in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Daniel Kahneman and Matthew Killingsworth followed 33,391 people aged 18 to 65, all employed and reporting at least $10,000 in annual household income. Their conclusion is clear: “happiness continues to increase with income, even in the upper income bracket“, concluded Daniel Kahneman and Matthew Killingsworth.
But the dynamic is not unlimited. The authors note a stabilization zone for some of the respondents around 75,000 dollars per year, the equivalent of around 62,000 euros per year, or nearly 5,800 euros per month. The joy of the participants “stabilizes when their income reaches $75,000“, specifies the study. In other words, earning more is not systematically synonymous with better, particularly for those who are already under a mental load or strong constraints.
“Money can’t buy happiness”, really?
The contrast with the French reality is marked. According to INSEE, the average salary in France in 2023 is around 2,587 euros net per month, or around 39,800 euros gross per year. At the same time, 41% of French people cite their financial situation as the main source of stress, according to an Ifop survey for Mes Bienfaits. We understand why the idea of a “happiness wage” is so appealing.
So yes, money doesn’t buy happiness, and health is the main thing. However, on this last point, an old reminder still resonates today: “To be healthy without being rich is to be half sick“, affirmed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.