Contributor #2

From Gross National Happiness:

The closing of a textile factory in 1929 eliminated work for 75% of the families in the small village of Marienthal, Austria.  Much of Europe suffered from the Great Depression even more than America did.

A group of sociologists went to Marienthal to observe and interview.  Their findings were worse than they expected.

"The Marienthalers were not starving - Austria in those years had unemployment insurance that covered the better part of a factory worker's wages.  But the townspeople languished nevertheless. . . Marienthal had previously been an active community with many social clubs and political organizations.  Paradoxically, after the factory closed and people had all day to participate in leisure and social activities, these organizations withered.  People couldn't seem to find the time or energy to do much of anything.

"In the two years after the factory closed, the town library lent out only about half the number of volumes per person as before.  A man said, "I often used to go dancing with my wife.  There was life in Marienthal then.  Now the whole place is dead." People stopped wearing watches, became late for meals, slept much more.

"The researchers logically concluded that what had destroyed life in Marienthal was not the loss of wages, but the loss of the ability to earn them."  It became a classic study on the social importance of work.

With all the complaining about work that we hear, it may be hard to believe it, but "among adults [in America] who worked ten hours a week or more in 2002, an amazing 89 percent said they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs."

"Within the bounds of normal worklife the data are overwhelmingly clear that, for most Americans, work in and of itself brings happiness - regardless of how much income it generates."

So contributor #2 is:  work.