Young People Are More Miserable Than Older Generations, Research Finds

Young people are experiencing a decline in happiness as they suffer "the equivalent of a midlife crisis," a new global research has revealed. For the study, researchers asked people to evaluate their life on a scale from zero to 10, with 10 representing their best possible life.  Results from the past three years were then averaged to get the result. Experts found that youth, especially in North America, are experiencing mid-life crisis today. They also revealed that the declining well-being among under-30s has driven the United States out of the top 20 list of happiest nations. 

The results were published in the 2024 World Happiness Report. This report is an annual barometer of wellbeing in 140 nations coordinated by Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre, Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It showed "disconcerting drops (in youth happiness) especially in North America and western Europe," said Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Wellbeing Research Centre and editor of the study, as per The Guardian. 

"To think that in some parts of the world children are already experiencing the equivalent of a midlife crisis, demands immediate policy action," he said. 

Further, Dr De Neve explained that a range of factors was likely to be lowering young peoples' happiness, including increased polarization over social issues, negative aspects of social media, and economic inequality that made it harder for young people to afford their own homes than in the past. 

Researchers said that the report's revelation also challenges conventional wisdom, which suggests that happiness follows a U-shaped trajectory, dipping in midlife before rebounding. 

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Further, as per the report, the US was excluded from the list of the top 20 happiest nations. In the UK young people under 30 rank lower in happiness compared to their counterparts in nations like Moldova and Kosovo. Conversely, British over-60s made it into the top 20 of the world's happiest older generations. 

"For the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has decreased in all age groups, but especially for the young, so much so that the young are now, in 2021-23, the least happy age group," the report found. It also revealed that Finland, Denmark and Iceland were the top three happiest countries.