Young people in the US and many parts of the world are becoming less happy - Photo: Getty Images
Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, told the Guardian that new data showed that young people across North America were becoming less happy than their elders. A similar shift was expected in Western Europe over the next year or two.
According to a report released on March 20, International Day of Happiness, the lack of happiness among people under 30 has pushed the US out of the top 20 happiest countries in the world. After 12 years of 15-24 year olds in the US being happier than older people, this trend began to reverse in 2017.
Dr Murthy described the report's findings as "a red flag that millennials are really struggling in the US and that this trend is now increasing globally".
The annual World Happiness Report, conducted by the Oxford University Happiness Center in collaboration with Gallup and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranks the happiness levels of 140 countries.
“For the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, happiness has declined across all age groups, but especially among young people, to the point where today’s young people are the least happy age group in 2021-2023,” the report said. In 2010, young people were happier than middle-aged people.
The report does not reveal the reasons for these changes, but they come amid growing concerns about the impact of social media, income inequality, the housing crisis, fears of war and climate change on the well-being of children and young people.
According to Dr. Murthy, the average American teenager spends nearly 5 hours a day on social media and about 1/3 of them stay up until midnight looking at their phones.
The doctor is still waiting for data to prove social media platforms are safe for children and young people, and is calling for international action to improve real-life social connections for younger generations.
"The thought that children in some parts of the world are going through a crisis equivalent to a midlife crisis demands immediate policy action," said Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of the Centre for Happiness Studies (University of Oxford).
The World Happiness Report ranks countries based on people's surveys about their lives and their positive and negative emotions. This year, Finland, Denmark and Iceland remain the three happiest countries.
Several African countries, Cambodia, Russia and China are among the countries with increasing levels of happiness. Afghanistan and Lebanon are the two least happy.
Vietnam ranked 54th in this year's rankings.
Happiness is simply a moment of being carefree.Source
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