YOUNG AMERICANS: WHY ARE THEY SO UNHAPPY COMPARED WITH OTHER NATIONS?
“According to a comprehensive new report, young Americans are alarmingly unhappy. Perhaps dangerously so. This has enormous implications for future stability. The question is — why?”
Question: Why are young people so unhappy?
The annual “World Happiness Report” has just been released. It’s no surprise that the happiest people and nations are entirely comprised of democratic-socialist countries with strong systems of government, high trust in public institutions, economic equity, gender equality, reproductive freedom, well-established infrastructure, universal health care, social safety nets, opportunities for upward mobility, a high degree of public safety (including gun control), and affordable access to higher education. It’s also no surprise the happiest countries and people (mostly) live in the least religious societies.
Every year, all studies appear to support the growing divide between happy people and unhappy people, and it’s closely tied to quality of life metrics within those societies.
READ THE FULL REPORT: Happiness of the younger, the older, and those in between
READ THE ABBREVIATED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT: These are the happiest countries in 2024
READ MORE ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE AND HAPPINESS: The young are now most unhappy people in the United States, new report shows
According to the report, the world’s 10 happiest countries in 2024 are as follows:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
So, where are we?
The United States position declined yet again. Americans fell out of the top-20 for the first time. As of 2024, the U.S. ranks 23rd.
[Important Note: These rankings reflect an updated three-year average so as to not to be disproportionally influenced by current events/crisis — which would be impacted by war, famine, natural disasters, etc.]
Perhaps what’s most shocking is the breakdown by age. Check this out.
Americans age 60 and above rank among the happiest people in the world. The U.S. ranks 10th in that demographic, perhaps once again reflecting the link between happiness and access to health care (Medicare), guaranteed monthly income (Social Security), and many other social services geared towards seniors.
However, young Americans are alarmingly unhappy. Perhaps dangerously so. This has enormous implications for future stability. Americans age 30 and under rank 62nd in that age demographic, similar to the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, and Albania. The question is — why?
Before we immediately jump to (flawed and stereotypical) theories about American young people and their interactions with social media, high tech, video games, and other modernisms, let’s remember that most young people in all developed nations now have access to these same activities. Most of those other young people deal effectively with these tools, without the negatives. Let’s agree there’s not much difference in the daily habits between a young person from Denmark or the United States. So, why is the Danish young person so much happier than the American?
To my American friends: If this doesn’t scare the hell out of you, well, it should!
“Honestly, I look at these data with terror, not just because of what they reveal about our country right now, but what they will reveal about our country in the future unless we change this pattern,” said Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University.
Why the happiness gap, and what does it mean? I honestly can’t answer this.
Accordingly, perhaps readers can share their ideas. I’ve opened up the discussion on Facebook. Click the link below to offer an opinion and join the discussion.
