Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 17) – It seems that money can’t really buy happiness.

A new local study has found that income has little impact on happiness, the Science and Technology Ministry said in a press release on Wednesday.

He supported the previous claim that earning more money might slightly increase his happiness, but there is a threshold – a monthly income of around 20,000 pesos, DOST said.

“Beyond that, income stops increasing happiness,” he added.

The latest research, which will soon be available on the Philippine Journal of Science website, looked at how income affects happiness in Koronadal, in southern Cotabato.

“Research shows that residents of Koronadal, a low-income semi-urban town in Mindanao, are generally satisfied even with low incomes, which fits the poor and happy image of poor Filipinos,” according to Rosalina Palanca- Tan from the Department of Economics at Ateneo University in Manila, who conducted the study.

“Since they are already happy and content with their lives, to begin with, the increase in happiness due to income is marginal and yet somewhat negligible in a practical sense,” added Palanca-Tan.

The results also indicate that financial security and stability, such as having savings and being debt-free, and being a member of a credit union, which provides loans to meet financial needs, are relatively contributors to the well-being of individuals. people.

Additionally, the results suggest that programs that increase the accessibility and affordability of goods and services may be more effective in making people more satisfied with their lives than direct income-increasing projects such as the transfer program. conditional monetary policy of the national government. The program, which provides conditional cash grants to the poorest sectors, has had “no significant influence on happiness in Koronadal,” according to the research.

The study interviewed family members who traditionally make spending decisions in 27 villages, with an average monthly income of P19,444, DOST said. The monthly household income in Koronadal is close to the regional average of P20,229, but lower than the national average of P26,112.

On a scale of zero to 10, the average reported happiness among participants is 6.75, which is higher than the neutral score of 5, according to the results. The lowest income group, or those with a monthly household income of less than P 10,000, had an average happiness score of 6.31.