Money Can't Buy Happiness, But Study Says It Can Get You More Sleep

culled from:mindbodygreen.com

Sleep deprivation in America is such an issue, the CDC has actually labeled it anational epidemic. And with the problem only worsening, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) decided to take action and release a year-long multidisciplinary review of current literature on the field, including new sleep recommendations.

But apparently, that still wasn't enough. The CDC has just released a new studyin its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to shed more light on the problem, and found a correlation between how much money you make and how much sleep you get. To not a single person's surprise, Americans who make less money are getting less sleep than their wealthier counterparts.

Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, which includes approximately 35,000 households nationwide, researchers investigated the association between sleep and income level.

They found that, if you're in a family of four living below the poverty line ($23,550 or less in 2013), you're probably getting a lot less sleep than your friends who earn more. About 35% of people in the less-wealthy group got less than six hours a night. Now, compare that to a family of four that brings in $94,200 a year. Only 25% of people in that group got less than six hours of sleep a night. (Keep in mind that the recommendations for adults is seven to nine hours a night.)

In other words, more money means more sleep.

And it doesn't matter if you live on the first floor of a building on the busiest street in Manhattan versus a secluded cabin in the mountains. More money still means more sleep.

But it's not exactly rocket science to figure out why this happens. Lower income families have to take on more jobs to get by. So the more you work (and commute, too), the less time you can spend in bed. Money may not buy you happiness, but it can sure buy you a few extra smacks on the snooze button.