The link between age and happiness has been the subject of numerous studies. It is still a matter of controversy whether the relationship is U-shaped, with happiness declining after youth before bouncing back in old age, or not. While the effect of age has been examined conditional on income and other socio-demographic variables, so far, the interactions between age and income have remained insufficiently explored. Using data from the European Social Survey, this article shows that the nature of the relationship between age and happiness varies strongly with different levels of relative income. People in the lowest decile of the income distribution experience a ‘hockey stick’: a deep decline in self-reported happiness until around age 50–55 and a small bounce back in old age. The classic U-curve is found mostly in the middle-income ranks. For people at the top of the income distribution, average happiness does not vary much with age. These results demonstrate the important role of income in moderating the relationship between age and happiness.

年龄与幸福之间的联系一直是众多研究的主题。这段关系是否是U型关系，年轻后幸福感下降，老年后反弹，仍然是一个有争议的问题。虽然已经根据收入和其他社会人口变量对年龄的影响进行了研究，但到目前为止，年龄与收入之间的相互作用仍未得到充分探索。本文使用欧洲社会调查的数据表明，年龄与幸福之间关系的性质随着相对收入水平的不同而有很大差异。收入分配最低十分之一的人经历了“曲棍球棒”：在 50-55 岁左右之前，自我报告的幸福感大幅下降，而在老年时小幅反弹。经典的 U 型曲线主要出现在中等收入阶层。对于处于收入分配顶端的人来说，平均幸福感不会随年龄变化太大。这些结果证明了收入在调节年龄和幸福感之间的关系中的重要作用。