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Kurt Vonnegut Jr.


http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/640659.html

Money Can't Buy You Joy

But study says a higher income tends to improve your satisfaction with life

THURSDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- More money may improve people's satisfaction with life, but it won't necessarily help them enjoy it, suggests a new study.

Researches analyzed data gathered in the first Gallup World Poll, which included more than 136,000 people in 132 countries who were surveyed in 2005-2006. The respondents, who rated their lives on a scale of zero (worst) to 10 (best), were asked about positive or negative emotions experienced the previous day, whether they felt respected, whether they had family and friends they could count on in an emergency and how free they felt to choose their daily activities, learn new things or do what they do best.

Like other studies have found, the analysis revealed that life satisfaction -- the belief that your life is going well -- increases as income increases, individually and in the country overall. But researchers also found that although overall positive feelings increased somewhat along with rising income, these feelings were much more strongly linked with other factors, such as feeling respected, enjoying autonomy and social support from friends and family and having a fulfilling job.

"The public always wonders: Does money make you happy? This study shows that it all depends on how you define happiness because, if you look at life satisfaction, how you evaluate your life as a whole, you see a pretty strong correlation around the world between income and happiness," Ed Diener, a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization and a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Illinois, said in a university news release. "On the other hand, it's pretty shocking how small the correlation is with positive feelings and enjoying yourself."

According to Diener, this was the first study to differentiate between life satisfaction and day-to-day positive or negative feelings that people experience.

"Everybody has been looking at just life satisfaction and income," he said. "And while it is true that getting richer will make you more satisfied with your life, it may not have the big impact we thought on enjoying life."

The study was published online July 1 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

More information

The American Psychological Association has more about happiness.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, news release, July 1, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Page updated at 10:29 AM

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Dan Shames, at center facing camera, helps run the show during lunch at South Seattle Community College's Food Court as part of his training in the culinary arts program. Shames, a top student, just landed a job as a line cook at Snoqualmie Casino.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Things are looking up again for Dan Shames, here on the couch where he used to spend so much time. From left are his wife, Susan, and daughters Sarina, 14, and Jenna, 19.

If the man in the chef's coat serving up lunch at South Seattle Community College seems a little impatient, it's nothing personal. He's just itching to get out of this place.

Dan Shames had a good ride as a culinary student here. A great one, actually. Learned a ton. Mastered a bunch of new skills, things he never dreamed he'd be doing four years ago.

Shames spent 32 years making jewelry; rocks were his childhood obsession. Ever see the way light scatters through a sapphire? Now that's beauty.

But in 2006, business crumbled and Shames became an out-of-work married father of two with a mortgage on a home in the Seward Park neighborhood. He'd just hit his 50s.

A career change wasn't part the plan.

But here he is, at 54, ready to graduate next month with a culinary degree. He found a new job, which started last week. Time is moving. And finally, so is he.

Shames (pronounced Shah-muss) managed to climb out of unemployment and remake his career. His pride took some hits along the way.

People his age have a tough time. National data show that workers 55 and older stay unemployed longer than average. Such figures, Shames said, didn't deter him.

"I just knew if I kept at it and kept at it, I'd find something again that I loved doing."

Four years ago, Shames faced the unavoidable: His high-end jewelry design store on Fourth Avenue was not going to make it.

Diamonds were going online. More and more, consumers didn't particularly care about personal service, or want an experienced hand guiding them through a luxury purchase. They looked only at price points, Shames said. The marketplace had changed.

So he closed up shop. He, his wife, and two daughters grieved it like a death.

But Shames wasn't panicked — yet. He'd lined up a sales gig with a national jeweler, and worked behind the counter for a year and a half, thinking it would lead to a spot on the design team.

It didn't. And the company let him go. He took another job with a jeweler, but that chain went bankrupt.

Shames joined millions of other Americans staring into the abyss of unemployment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show 14.6 million people were jobless last month. Shames decided he couldn't go back to being a jeweler. That chapter was over, which killed him in a way. Crafting gemstones was his art. But it was early 2008, and a recession was brewing. Friends in the business were packing up, too.

He needed a new passion. But what?

Keeping busy helped muffle the fear and anxiety. His wife, Susan, worked as an accountant, so Shames took care of the dogs, kept the house clean, and shuttled his kids back and forth to school. He became known as "The Carpool Guy."

Meanwhile, he collected unemployment checks and searched for jobs.

In between, he cooked.

Stir-frys, stuffed chicken, burgers. Shames had always been the family chef. But now he experimented. He'd think: "What can I do to make it exciting? What can I do to make it different?"

He tossed together tofu dishes for his younger daughter, Sarina, who ate fish but not other meat. He noticed his joy whenever the food disappeared. It reminded him of a bride's face after seeing her wedding ring for the first time.

But money problems loomed. Unemployment benefits wouldn't last forever. Savings were "being sucked dry." His confidence started to tank.

Strangely, that's when a door opened: Because of the family's financial troubles, Shames qualified for government grants to go back to school.

Toward the end of 2008, after a year of being unemployed, Shames called a family meeting. He was going to culinary school, he said. Everyone was thrilled.

"He was very bored at home," said his daughter, Jenna, 19, in their living room. "Sometimes, he'd be sitting on the couch half asleep — "

" — and he'd stare into space for, like, half an hour," said Sarina, 14. "So we were really happy for him. We always knew deep down he'd be a chef."

Shames reasoned the field seemed recession-proof enough.

"People have to eat, right?" he said.

In January 2009, he enrolled at South Seattle, fired up and ready. Then his wife lost her job. Getting on with his new career was even more urgent.

"What we were trying to do was not to go bankrupt," he said.

Mike Ryan, dean of the culinary school, said Shames stood out for his drive and intensity.

"He had a lot of business experience and a lot of maturity. He knew what it took to do well in school."

There were frustrations, though. Shames joined a lot of people remaking their careers, many of whom were younger and unsure if this was what they wanted to do.

Working alongside teenagers or twentysomethings "slacking off" in class or in the kitchen touched a nerve, Shames said.

"I'd tell them, 'I might sound like your mom or dad, but for you to come in late or drunk or high, you don't know the opportunity you're missing here.' "

The program generally takes two years — but who has two years? Shames said.

He's finishing six months ahead of schedule and will get his degree in June. He just got a job as a line cook at Snoqualmie Casino, and hopes it soon leads to a management position.

"I got my foot in the door," he said. "That's all I needed. When you're unemployed, you go nowhere."

He remembered when life was comfortable, predictable. So much so, he'd almost forgotten what it was like to struggle.

"That first step is so scary," he said. "But if you don't take it, you're on that ledge looking down forever. And I think that's worse."

Sonia Krishnan and News researcher David Turim contributed to this report.

Synopsis

Unfortunately, unemployment is on the rise—leaving many people anxious about how to recreate themselves and renew their careers after being fired. This fresh, funny, and smart guide will be their life saver, providing them with the information they need to thrive even in this tight economic environment. It will help jobseekers and prospective entrepreneurs figure out what they really want to do next, understand the changing job market, and find work in growth areas such as green technology. There's also advice on retraining, freelancing and independent contracting, and Internet marketing options, as well as a chapter devoted specifically to women.