The disability gap in happiness across welfare regimes
AbstractThis article uses data from the 2008 International Social Survey Programme to examine the disability gap in happiness in 14 countries. This study builds on previous research linking disability to depression by exploring whether there are significant differences in the gap between disabled and non-disabled people’s happiness internationally and if differences in happiness systematically vary across welfare state regimes. Disabled respondents were found to be significantly less happy than non-disabled respondents from the same nation in all 14 countries and that the levels of happiness between disabled people and unemployed people were similar by welfare regime except in the conservative welfare regime. The disability gap in happiness varied across welfare state regimes, and social democratic countries generally had significantly smaller disability gaps than countries with conservative welfare regimes. These findings highlight the international scope of the disability gap and underscore the important role that welfare regimes have in shaping these differences.