Effect of Travel Expenditure on Life Satisfaction for Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Korea: Moderating Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this research was to examine the effects of travel expenditures on life satisfaction in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the research, a curvilinear relationship was established between life satisfaction and travel expenditures that was then compared between 2018 and 2020. The study subjects were middle-aged and older adults who completed the 2018 and 2020 waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. Demographic, travel expenditure, and life satisfaction data were collected, and quadratic regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of travel expenditures on life satisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first-order condition was computed to determine the optimal level of travel expenditures to maximize life satisfaction, and the results exhibit that the utility of travel expenditure decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.