Global research has unveiled a concerning trend: young people are experiencing a decline in happiness, akin to a midlife crisis, while America’s top doctor has issued a warning about their significant struggles.
Dr Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, said allowing children to use social media was like giving them medicine that is not proven to be safe. He said the failure of governments to better regulate social media in recent years was “insane”.
The 2024 World Happiness Report has highlighted a concerning trend: a decline in wellbeing among individuals under 30 has resulted in the United States dropping out of the top 20 list of happiest nations. For over a decade, those aged 15 to 24 were reported as happier than older generations in the US, but this trend reversed in 2017.
The gap has also narrowed in western Europe, suggesting a similar shift may occur there in the near future. Surgeon General Murthy characterized these findings as a “red flag” indicating significant struggles among young people in the US and globally. He emphasized the need for data demonstrating the safety of social media platforms for children and adolescents and called for international efforts to enhance real-life social connections for young individuals.
The World Happiness Report, an annual assessment of wellbeing across 140 nations conducted by Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre, Gallup, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, noted “disconcerting drops” in youth happiness, particularly in North America and western Europe. Finland, Denmark, and Iceland retained their positions as the top three happiest countries. The report also suggests that childhood wellbeing and emotional health may serve as reliable predictors of adult life satisfaction.
Previous research indicates that adolescents and young adults reporting higher life satisfaction tend to earn significantly higher incomes later in life, even after accounting for differences in education, intelligence, physical health, and self-esteem.
