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Yes, your boss probably is happier than you are

Chances are, your boss really is living the good life.A Pew Research Center report released Thursday found that bosses are more likely than workers to be satisfied with their family life, current job and financial situation. Top managers are also more likely than non-managerial employees to say they are paid fairly for what they do, and less likely to be looking for a new job, according to the rep
The Office's Michael Scott (Steve Carell) was widely considered to be an idiot - but while at Dunder Mifflin he was probably happier than his long-suffering employees.
The Office's Michael Scott (Steve Carell) was widely considered to be an idiot - but while at Dunder Mifflin he was probably happier than his long-suffering employees.Mitchell Haaseth / NBC

Chances are, your boss really is living the good life.

A Pew Research Center report released Thursday found that bosses are more likely than workers to be satisfied with their family life, current job and financial situation.

Top managers are also more likely than non-managerial employees to say they are paid fairly for what they do, and less likely to be looking for a new job, according to the report.

The results are based on a survey of about 1,300 people working full- and part-time, which was conducted last October.

Among the findings:

Family life: The researchers found that 83 percent of bosses were very satisfied with their family life, compared with 74 percent of workers.

Current job: 69 percent of top managers said they were happy in their current job, compared with 48 percent of non-managers.

Financial situation: 40 percent of bosses were satisfied with their financial situation, compared with 28 percent of workers.

The researchers also said about 62 percent of bosses felt they got paid fairly for what they do, compared with 54 percent of workers. Only 12 percent of bosses said they were looking for a new job, compared to 23 percent of workers.

The researchers noted that the differences may be partly attributable to age, since their research showed the average age of top managers was higher than that of non-managers. That likely means they are further along in their professional and personal lives.

They also appear to have more money. The researchers found, not surprisingly, that the bosses were more likely than workers to report household incomes topping $75,000 a year.

Still, there are downsides to being the one in charge. The Pew study found that respondents who were not already the top manager were about equally divided on whether or not they wanted to be the boss.