PEW: What Makes for a Fulfilling Life?

by Anna Fleck,

Oct 18, 2024

In the United States, having a job or career that you enjoy is considered a key cornerstone for leading a fulfilling life. According to a survey by Pew Research Center, 71 percent of respondents said that having a job or career that they like is either extremely or very important to feeling satisfied with their lot.

The next most popular perceived element for a fulfilling life was having close friends, with 61 percent of respondents picking the option.

Having children, a lot of money or getting married were less highly rated. In the case of having children, 42 percent of respondents said it was not important, while 44 percent said marriage was not important.

Women were slightly more likely than men to say that their job or career is important to achieving a feeling of fulfillment, at 74 percent compared to their counterparts’ 69 percent.

Men were slightly more likely to say having children (29 percent versus women’s 22 percent) or marriage (28 percent for men versus 18 percent for women) were key to such perceived metrics of success.

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PEW: What Do Americans Think Makes For a Fulfilling Life?

Percent saying each of the following is important in order to live a fulfilling life
	Extremely, Very	Somewhat	Not too/Not at all
Having a Job or career that they enjoy	71	25	4
Having close friends	61	29	10
Having children	26	33	42
Having a lot of money	24	49	27
Being married	23	33	44
Share of respondents who did not offer an answer is not shown

Gender

When it comes to what leads to a fulfilling life, men and women have similar views of the importance of having close friends and having a lot of money.

Percent say that each of the following is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
Gender	Men	Women
Having a job or career that they enjoy	69%	79%
Being married	28%	18%
Having children	29%	22%

Marital status and parenthood

Not surprisingly, married adults are more likely than those who are unmarried to say marriage is important in order to live a fulfilling life

Percent who say that marriage is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
Marital Status
Married	29%
Divorces, Separated, Widowed	18%
Never Married	15%
Living with Partner	12%

Similarly, parents are more likely than adults without children to say having children is important for a fulfilling life.

Percent who say that having children marriage is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
Parent Status
Yes	31%
No	18%

Race/ethnicity

Adults across racial and ethnic groups place the highest importance on having a job or career they enjoy in order to live a fulfilling life.

Percent who say that friends or money is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
Race/ethnicity	Friends	Money
Asian	65%	49%
Black	46%	39%
Hispanic	51%	33%
White	66%	16%

Age

Across age groups, older adults (ages 65 and older) are the most likely to say having an enjoyable job or career is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life (78% say this). Still, 67% to 73% of other age groups say the same. Adults ages 65 and older also place a higher value on being married than younger age groups do.

Percent who say that having a lot of money is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
18-29	35%
30-49	26%
50-64	19%
65+	13%

Party

Percent say that each of the following is extremely or very important for a fulfilling life
	Democrats	Republicans
Having a Job or career that they enjoy	72%	71%
Having close friends	61%	61%
Being married	15%	32%
Having children	19%	33%
Having a lot of money	27%	20%