Owning a pet can bring as much as £70,000 ($90,000) worth of life satisfaction each year, comparable to the happiness gained from regularly spending time with friends and family. Economists use this kind of comparison to put a value on emotional benefits that don’t have a direct price tag.

The new study suggests that owning a cat or dog can improve your wellbeing just as much as being married.

Published on March 31 in the journal Social Indicators Research under the title “The Value of Pets: The Quantifiable Impact of Pets on Life Satisfaction,” the research found that the emotional benefits of having a pet are similar to the boost in life satisfaction linked to being married or frequently spending time with friends and family.

The researchers reached this conclusion by comparing their results with earlier studies that used the same method to measure life satisfaction.

The researchers analyzed data from a long-term survey involving 2,500 British households. Instead of just showing a link between pet ownership and life satisfaction which would only prove a correlation the researchers aimed to establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

To avoid the limitations of earlier studies especially the issue of reverse causality, the researchers used an instrumental variable approach. They selected a proxy variable: how often a person is asked to look after a neighbor’s property to help them predict the likelihood of pet ownership while remaining unrelated to life satisfaction. This allowed the researchers to isolate the true impact of pets on wellbeing.

One of the most well-known ways animals improve human health is by helping to reduce stress. According to the research, which references other published studies, simply petting or even looking at an animal can lead to lower blood pressure and heart rate.

During stressful situations like solving math problems or undergoing a cold pressor test, the presence of a pet dog or cat can calm the body more effectively than having friends or family nearby. One of the cited studies even found that similar calming effects can be achieved just by viewing images of animals, whether moving or still.

An economics professor at the University of Kent and co-author of the study, Adelina Gschwandtner, admitted the findings were unexpected even for the research team, adding that, when she first calculated the values, she was surprised. "I was thinking that’s a lot of money even for me who loves (pets),” she said.

Speaking to CNN, she added that, most people say their pets are like friends or family members to them, so the comparison makes sense. “Most people claim that their pets are like friends or family members to them, so that is comparable.”

The researchers noted that if pets truly enhance life satisfaction to the extent their findings suggest, policymakers should consider making pet ownership more accessible such as easing restrictions that prevent renters from having animals.

However, some experts have cautioned against placing pets on the same emotional level as humans. They warn against “anthropomorphizing” animals too much, or assuming that our relationships with pets are equal to those we share with people.