Having a Pet Increases Happiness as Much Being Married, New Study Finds

From Disney movies to cheesy rom-coms to Shakespearean comedies, the popular idea seems to be that a lavish wedding is the key to a satisfying happy ending. There’s some truth to it; multiple studies have shown that marriage is consistently associated with higher levels of contentment. But for anyone who’s fed up with terrible first dates or just loving the single life, there’s another path to happiness. A new study published in Social Indicators Research found that parenting a pet increases life satisfaction by the same amount as marriage does — or in cold hard cash, by a whopping $89,000.

How is this possible to figure out, you ask? Well, researchers utilized a survey of about 2,500 households previously conducted as part of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Survey recipients were asked to rank their life satisfaction on a scale of one to seven, from “not satisfied at all” to “completely satisfied.” They also answered a variety of questions on their companionship with pets, family, neighbors, and friends, as well as their physical and mental health.

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They then used “the life satisfaction approach,” a tool developed by economists which allows researchers to translate the value of different life factors into financial equivalents. Previous research has used the method to determine the values and costs of everything from interactions with friendly neighbors to living with airport noise. “It’s often used to put a value on civic amenities — things like clean air or green space, things you can’t buy in a supermarket,” Dr. Adelina Gschwandtner, the study’s lead author, told The Times.

Around 22 percent of the population answered that they have a dog or cat. Generally, they were a more cheerful bunch; researchers found that caring for a pet significantly increased life satisfaction. According to the personality sections of the survey, pet parents tend to be more open, conscientious, and extroverted. There were differences between dog and cat people, too; overall, cat people are more open and conscientious than dog people — they’re also more neurotic. Dog people are more agreeable and significantly more extroverted.

Most strikingly, researchers determined that the value of pet companionship is about £70,000, or about $89,000. When compared with a previous study, this is comparable to the value of meeting with friends or relatives once or twice a week. It’s also the same value found for marriage. “Economists have shown using life satisfaction surveys that marriage, compared to being single, is worth around £70,000 a year for a representative person in Great Britain,” Gschwandtner wrote.

It makes sense. Pet parenting has been associated with a variety of mental and physical health benefits; hanging out with pets has been shown to decrease blood pressure, increase oxytocin, and improve cognitive function. It’s why dogs and cats have been effectively used to support veterans with PTSD, children receiving emergency medical care, stressed out college students, and many more people in need. Put simply, they’re the best. And, as a bonus, they come without in-laws.