The World Happiness Report, an annual survey measuring the global happiness of more than 140 countries since 2012, recently published its latest rankings.
The rankings are based on just one main life evaluation question. The survey uses the Cantril ladder where people are asked to think of a ladder, with the best possible life for them being a 10 and the worst possible life being a 0. Next, they are asked to rate their own current lives on a 0 to 10 scale.
To explain the variation across countries, the researchers use observed data on six variables (GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, social support, and corruption) and estimates of their associations with life evaluations.
For the first time, the U.S. has fallen out of the top 20 countries in happiness, according to the latest report.
Are we as a country less happy than we used to be?
It's not that cut and dried and is a bit more nuanced as science tends to be. To better grasp the full picture, it’s essential to understand that it’s the first time the report separated the results by age. In doing so they found a great disparity between the younger and the older generations in happiness levels.
In many parts of the world, younger folks are happier than the old. But in the U.S. the opposite is true. Happiness has plummeted so much for the young over the recent past that they are now much less happy than the older generations.
The U.S. ranked number 10 in happiness for folks 60 or older but a startling number 62 for those under 30.
What can we do to help improve happiness here in the U.S.? In particular, how can we help our younger generation whose happiness has decreased at an alarming rate recently?
We recently appeared on NPR station WHYY’s “Studio 2” to discuss this important topic. While there is no one simple answer or quick fix, it’s an increasingly critical issue that needs to be addressed before we lose our youth to worsening mental health.
More and more of our youth are experiencing anxiety and depression at an alarmingly high rate. As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt reports in his latest book The Anxious Generation, there has been a major increase in depression since 2010.
It's about a 150 percent increase in having at least one major depressive episode for both boys and girls. Further, since 2010 “depression became roughly two and a half more times more prevalent” in teens 12 to 17, he states.
Haidt analyzes the data and shows how this rise in depression happened around the time that social media became more popular among the young. He highlights the link between depression and social relationships.
The more socially disconnected people feel the more likely they are to become depressed. In turn, the more depressed people feel, the less likely they are to seek out social connections, he says. “As with anxiety, there is a vicious cycle.”
We can easily understand how this pattern can lead to a downward spiral in our youth today. Haidt emphasizes the importance of friendships to well-being. And how “a play-based childhood strengthens them, while a phone-based childhood weakens them.”
While there is no quick fix to increasing well-being, there are immediate steps we can all take to help the youth in our lives begin to reverse the downward spiral. Most importantly, as parents, we can teach them to make better lifestyle choices.
As Haidt recommends, we can delay smartphones until high school and social media until 16 years old. And we can help them focus attention on nurturing their friendships since we know healthy social connections are foundational to flourishing. Additionally, we can encourage them to engage in (offline) activities that bring them and others joy.
As we write in Happy Together, happiness doesn’t just happen. It’s healthy habits that build happiness over the long run.
Some healthy habits we recommend for today’s youth (and everyone for that matter) include:
Of course, for any serious mental health issue it’s essential to seek out help from a licensed therapist right away.
In sum, while the factors contributing to the low mental health status of our youth are complex, there are small things we can begin doing today to help them. We must act as role models and help encourage them to build healthy habits to help support their mental health.
References
Haidt, Jonathan. (2024). The Anxious Generation. NY: Penguin Press.
Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., De Neve, J.-E., Aknin, L. B., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2024). World Happiness Report 2024. University of Oxford: Wellbeing Research Centre.
Pileggi Pawelski, S., Pawelski, J.O. (2018). Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts. NY: TarcherPerigee.
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