Social Welfare: Happy, Healthy, And Wealthy
Abstract
Social welfare policies in the U.S. are designed to facilitate the citizens to attain the highest levels of happiness, health, and wealth. However, the finite nature of these three parameters and other extenuating factors make it impossible for Americans to fully meet these desires. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of happiness, health, and wealth on the formulation and implementation of social welfare policies in the United States. A case study research design method was used to collect and analyze the relevant data. The findings show that engagement in voluntary activities and living in more urban areas increases the happiness of the Americans. It was also established that health disparities in the United States are influenced by several factors, including race, immigrant status, and levels of income. It is proposed that U.S. policymakers should address the existing disparities in the country by developing and implementing appropriate policies that increase happiness, health, and wealth.
References
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Wilson, V. (2014). Research methods: Triangulation. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 9(1), 74-75.
Yang, Y. (2008). Social inequalities in happiness in the United States, 1972 to 2004: An age-period-cohort analysis. American Sociological Review, 73(2), 204-226.
Andrews, D., & Leigh, A. (2009). More inequality, less social mobility. Applied Economics Letters, 16(15), 1489-1492.
Bekhet, A. K., & Zauszniewski, J. A. (2012). Methodological triangulation: An approach to understanding data. Nurse Researcher, 1-11.
Bjørnskov, C. (2008). Social capital and happiness in the United States. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 3(1), 43-62.
Braveman, P. A., Cubbin, C., Egerter, S., Williams, D. R., & Pamuk, E. (2010). Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: What the patterns tell us. American Journal of Public Health, 100(S1), S186-S196.
Breen, R., & Jonsson, J. O. (2005). Inequality of opportunity in comparative perspective: Recent research on educational attainment and social mobility. Annu. Rev. Sociol., 31, 223-243.
Brunori, P., Ferreira, F. H., & Peragine, V. (2013). Inequality of opportunity, income inequality, and economic mobility: Some international comparisons. In Getting development right (pp. 85-115). Palgrave Macmillan.
Carter, N., Bryant-Lukosius, D., DiCenso, A., Blythe, J., & Neville, A. J. (2014). The use of triangulation in qualitative research. In Oncology nursing forum, 41(5), 545-547.
Corak, M. (2013). Income inequality, equality of opportunity, and intergenerational mobility. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(3), 79-102.
Dabla-Norris, M. E., Kochhar, M. K., Suphaphiphat, M. N., Ricka, M. F., & Tsounta, E. (2015). Causes and consequences of income inequality: A global perspective. International Monetary Fund.
DeLeire, T., & Kalil, A. (2010). Does consumption buy happiness? Evidence from the United States. International Review of Economics, 57(2), 163-176.
Dolan, P., & Tsuchiya, A. (2011). Determining the parameters in a social welfare function using stated preference data: An application to health. Applied Economics, 43(18), 2241-2250.
Fielding, N. G. (2012). Triangulation and mixed methods designs: Data integration with new research technologies. Journal of mixed methods research, 6(2), 124-136.
Fisher, J. (2011). The four domains model: Connecting spirituality, health and well-being. Religions, 2(1), 17-28.
Fusch, P., Fusch, G. E., & Ness, L. R. (2018). Denzin’s paradigm shift: Revisiting triangulation in qualitative research. Journal of Social Change, 10(1), 19-32.
Galbraith, J. K., & Hale, J. T. (2009). The Evolution of economic inequality in the United States, 1969-2007 (No. 57). UTIP Working Paper.
Galbraith, J. K., & Hale, J. T. (2014). The evolution of economic inequality in the United States, 1969–2012: Evidence from data on inter-industrial earnings and inter-regional incomes. World Economic Review, 3, 1-19.
Gimenez‐Nadal, J. I., & Molina, J. A. (2015). Voluntary activities and daily happiness in the United States. Economic Inquiry, 53(4), 1735-1750.
Gottfried, J. A. (2011). Neurobiology of sensation and reward. CRC Press.
Gutmann, A. (1981). For and against equal access to health care. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society, 59(4), 542-560.
Heathcote, J., Perri, F., & Violante, G. L. (2010). Unequal we stand: An empirical analysis of economic inequality in the United States, 1967–2006. Review of Economic Dynamics, 13(1), 15-51.
Higgs, G. (2004). A literature review of the use of GIS-based measures of access to health care services. Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology, 5(2), 119-139.
Kanbur, R., & Stiglitz, J. E. (2016). Dynastic inequality, mobility and equality of opportunity. The Journal of Economic Inequality, 14(4), 419-434.
Lasser, K. E., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2006). Access to care, health status, and health disparities in the United States and Canada: Results of a cross-national population-based survey. American Journal of Public Health, 96(7), 1300-1307.
Links, F. (2006). Economic inequality in the United States. FRBSF Economic Letter, 2006, 33-34.
Lu, J. F. R., & Hsiao, W. C. (2003). Does universal health insurance make health care unaffordable? Lessons from Taiwan. Health Affairs, 22(3), 77-88.
Oliver, A., & Mossialos, E. (2004). Equity of access to health care: outlining the foundations for action. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 58(8), 655-658.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6(1), 25-41.
Powell, M., & Exworthy, M. (2003). Equal access to health care and the British National Health Service. Policy Studies, 24(1), 51-64.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, R. E. (2016). Research methods for social work. Brookes Cole.
Rumberger, R. W. (2010). Education and the reproduction of economic inequality in the United States: An empirical investigation. Economics of Education Review, 29(2), 246-254.
San Giorgi, M. (2012). The human right to equal access to health care. Erasmus MC.
Sander, W. (2011). Location and happiness in the United States. Economics Letters, 112(3), 277-279.
Singh, K., & Jha, S. D. (2008). Positive and negative affect, and grit as predictors of happiness and life satisfaction. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 34(2), 40-45.
Singh, M., & Singh, O.P. (2002). ICSE art of effective English writing class IX And X. S. Chand Publishing.
Smeeding, T. M. (2005). Public policy, economic inequality, and poverty: The United States in comparative perspective. Social Science Quarterly, 86, 955-983.
Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2008). Happiness inequality in the United States. The Journal of Legal Studies, 37(S2), S33-S79.
Teymoori, F., Dadkhah, A., & Shirazikhah, M. (2006). Social welfare and health (mental, social, physical) status of aged people in Iran. Middle East Journal of Age and Ageing, 3(1), 39-45.
Wang, M., & Sunny Wong, M. C. (2011). Leisure and happiness in the United States: Evidence from survey data. Applied Economics Letters, 18(18), 1813-1816.
Watts, L., & Hodgson, D. (2019). Social Justice Theory and Practice for Social Work. Springer Publishers.
Wendt, C. (2009). Mapping European healthcare systems: A comparative analysis of financing, service provision and access to healthcare. Journal of European Social Policy, 19(5), 432-445.
Wilson, V. (2014). Research methods: Triangulation. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 9(1), 74-75.
Yang, Y. (2008). Social inequalities in happiness in the United States, 1972 to 2004: An age-period-cohort analysis. American Sociological Review, 73(2), 204-226.