Money can buy you happiness after all, study finds

So whatis a marriage worth? After centuries of poets and novelists writing on the subject, two academics have come up with their own answer: 70 grand a year.

To put a value on happiness, the two academics interviewed 10,000 people over the past decade and found it came at great expense. Professors Andrew Oswald and Andrew Clark of the University of Warwick School of Economics calculated the monetary worth of contentment and distress.

They found health was the most valuable asset – at £500,000. Marriage brings the same amount of happiness as a salary of £70,000, widowhood would need £170,000 as compensation and separation £132,000. "Not surprisingly, as people get richer, they get happier," Professor Oswald said.

He hopes their study, published yesterday by the International Journal of Epidemiology, will be used to calculate compensation for crime victims. It will also be passed to the Government. Professor Oswald said: "Mr Blair is making guesses all the time about what will make people happy. He will be able to calculate it to the nearest pound."