For the first time in the World Happiness Report's dozen-year history, the U.S. did not rank in the top 20 of the world’s happiest countries. U.S. Falls Out of Top 20 Happiest Countries for the First Time Ever, Time (magazine), Solcyré Burga, March 19, 2024 Out of the more than 140 nations surveyed, the U.S. landed in 23rd place, compared to 15th place in 2023. While the U.S. is still in the top 10 happiest countries for those 60 years old and above, its overall ranking fell due to a significant decline in the reported well-being of Americans under 30. While there are many possible causes for this, I'd like to focus on the economic. Housing prices are very high making it difficult for many Americans to afford a house. A large part of this is due to severe housing shortages in many areas. While "happiness" is very subjective, I think it can be a good indicator of standards of living, which are a little more complicated than just absolute income levels. Studies also show that the unhappiness has grown in the younger generation more than it has in the older generation. Young people becoming less happy than older generations, research shows, Robert Booth, The Guardian, 19 March, 2024 Young people are becoming less happy than older generations as they suffer "the equivalent of a midlife crisis", global research has revealed as US surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy warned that "young people are really struggling". After 12 years in which people aged 15 to 24 were measured as being happier than older generations in the US, the trend appears to have flipped in 2017. The gap has also narrowed in western Europe and the same change could happen in the coming year or two, it is thought. Murthy described the report findings as a "red flag that young people are really struggling in the US and now increasingly around the world". related thread: Half of young adults had anxiety and depression in 2023 (in Healthcare, Dec 3, 2023 )
It's hard to be happy about the future these days, rising rents, competition for jobs from immigrants, nothing like a secure future, wars again and we just keep losing wars like we've always done, but there's a silver lining - we're down at 47th now on life expectancy, so we won't have to put up with the misery for as long.
World Happiness Report: Young people are most unsatisfied in the US Happiness and well-being among Americans has recently plummeted and a new cohort is leading the downward spiral: young people. The World Happiness Report released Wednesday showed that self-reported data from those under 30 knocked the U.S. out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time since the annual report was initially published in 2012. The analysis, compiled by Gallup, the United Nations and other groups, found that, among the top factors contributing to the rapid decline, were young people’s dissatisfaction with their support system; their living situation; waning confidence in the government and a sense that they have less freedom to make life choices. Young Americans who spoke with USA Today pointed to the economy, the cost of housing, student loan debt, political polarization, social media as reasons for their unhappiness and disillusionment. Young millennials and Gen Zers said crippling debt and inflated rent prices has left them exhausted and unsatisfied. Ashlie Marchant, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, said social media was the biggest cause of dissatisfaction in her life and the lives of her friends. Along with deleting TikTok off her phone, Merchant, sitting in a public park with a paperback novel, said she's embraced physical media like film photography and vinyl records in an effort to stave off a compulsion to doom scroll. "I'm trying to lean off of social media," Marchant, 20, said. "It's so easy to get caught up in it, and all it does is make me unproductive and upset." Luke Liptak, a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design, said though he’s not unhappy, he is buried in student loans and is struggling to find work in his field of study, computer animation. "I think a big part of this is feeling unsuccessful," the 23-year-old said. "There's a very high expectation on young people to get married by this age or buy a house at this age, but it's not realistic anymore." David Rosmarin, the founder of the Center for Anxiety and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said the study confirmed what he's seen on the ground. He said the severity of mental health illnesses and issues among younger patients has worsened, leading many to drop out of school or lose their jobs. Researchers say one of the best predictors of adult happiness is happiness as a child and as a teenager. And happiness and satisfaction levels are related to people's physical health, academic achievement, civic engagement and financial earnings. This correlation is fueling concerns that as teenagers and young adults in the U.S. get older, their dissatisfaction may only worsen, as history suggests. Generally, happiness is greatest among young people and drops to its lowest around middle age (40-60) before climbing up again as people reach retirement and old age - a phenomenon commonly called the U-shape. While a general flattening has been a yearslong trend in the U.S., this year the shape has become unrecognizable, experts said. The young are now most unhappy people in the United States, new report shows, by Christopher Cann, USA Today, March 21, 2014
