At Dreaming Upwards, we are committed to the happiness and success of young adults. These years, from graduating high school to finding first jobs to approaching a new decade, are filled with change. During these transitions and life changes, happiness can often be affected. Especially when it feels like there is so much suffering in the country, it is important to turn to data and look outward. The World Happiness Report is an excellent resource to look into global happiness results and their significance. Here is an overview and some major insights from the World Happiness Report 2024, particularly as it relates to Gen Z.
Overview
The World Happiness Report is a fascinating project that documents the status of happiness across the globe. Composed of a partnership amongst the WHR Editorial Board, Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Centre, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, it aims to shed light on the everchanging life satisfaction and wellbeing across the world.
The results are based on six areas: freedom, generosity, corruption, GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, and social support. The data is gathered through asking individuals from each country a Cantril Ladder life evaluation question. Here, 0 is the worst possible life and 10 is the best possible life. Essentially, participants rate how satisfied they currently are with their lives.
For our purposes, we will primarily look at the happiness of young adults and see what lessons can be derived from the results. If you want to read the report yourself, these insights are gathered primarily from Chapter 2.
Takeaway #1: Happiness is down for youth in the US
In several Western countries, happiness rates amongst youth have gone down.
Overall, in the World Happiness Report 2024, the US ranks 23rd. For people over 60, the US actually ranks 10th in terms of happiness. For people under 30, however, the US is 62nd. This has contributed to the US’s significant fall in overall happiness scores. Between 2020-2022, the US was ranked 15th on average (across age groups). Now, primarily because of the fall in youth happiness, we are no longer in the top 20 happiest countries. As you can see, there has been quite a fall!
This gap between old and young is also true for several other Western nations, including Canada (youth-58, elderly-8), New Zealand (youth-27, elderly-6), the United Kingdom (youth-32, elderly-20), and Australia (youth-19, elderly-9).
Takeaway #2: Happiness is rising for youth in some regions
In Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Latin America, happiness is rising in youth, especially as compared to the elderly. There are multiple factors that influence this. Interestingly (and understandably), one such factor might be the dramatic social and political shifts that previously impacted the elderly in each country. The increasing discomfort of aging also may affect these numbers. For the youth, a key factor in happiness is generally increase of opportunity.
In Western Europe, Portugal and Greece also show increased rates of youth happiness. This article delves into the interesting turnaround.
Takeaway #3: The US (and some other countries) are unique in their age-happiness relationship
The World Happiness Report 2024 makes an interesting point about the age-happiness relationship. In many parts of the world, happiness declines with age–although the opposite can be true as well, likely due to social support. Additionally, in places like Western Europe, the gap between youth and elderly happiness is decreasing. In the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, however, older people experience less negative emotion. Once again, the under 30 category has the highest reported frequency of experiencing negative emotions. This is a notable change since 2020.
Takeaway #4: Women generally feel more negative emotions than men
Across the board, women generally report more negative emotions. This could be due to a variety of causes, from biological to increased responsibilities. This article offers an interesting explanation regarding women’s experience with increased negative emotions.
Takeaway #5: Inequality of happiness is significant
According to the World Happiness Report 2024, the inequality of happiness in a country has a significant impact on the happiness of its residents. Overall, inequality has gone up worldwide. In Western Europe, it has stayed stable between the old and the young. In the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, inequality has remained the same for the old, but has increased for the young.
Takeaway #6: Millennials and Gen Z are more likely than previous generations to help others
One of the greatest factors contributing to happiness is benevolence, or your willingness to help others in need. The World Happiness Report 2024 took the pandemic as an opportunity to study this. It showed that benevolence increased across all age groups post-pandemic. However, in the younger generations, it increased the most.
Takeaway #7: Happiness is connected to being pro-social
I’m sure this is something that doesn’t come as a surprise for most of us after the pandemic. It’s the same reason that many people turn to dating apps time and time again, despite their detrimental aspects. We’re social creatures!
The World Happiness Report 2024 reiterates this fact. Across the board, social connection leads to increased feelings of belonging and happiness (just think of Maslow’s Hierarchy). Many of the happiest countries trend toward being more social, prosperous, and healthy. In other words, feeling more connected to and supported by your community (in addition to having health and financial opportunity) significantly impacts your happiness and wellbeing.
The youth and the elderly are the most at risk, and in the report’s findings, youth in the US report almost twice the amount of loneliness as Boomers. Often referred to as the “Loneliness Epidemic,” this lack of social connection deeply impacts our generation’s happiness and wellbeing. This article, which analyzes several surveys done on the topic, looks at some factors that contribute to Gen Z’s feelings of loneliness, from social media to changing family structures.
Summary: World Happiness Report 2024
Happiness and wellbeing are growing areas of interest, and the World Happiness Report offers tangible data for us to track globally. Globally, they have reported several differences in happiness amongst age groups and gender. In the US, the younger generations (under 30) have had a notable decrease in happiness, which has brought our global happiness rank down several spots. Inequality of happiness and loneliness are two major contributors to these feelings of happiness/unhappiness (the six factors measured are freedom, generosity, corruption, GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, and social support). However, Millennials and Gen Z do show increased likelihood to help others in need, which has a positive correlation with happiness.
This is just a summary of some of the major points from the World Happiness Report 2024 and their relevance to Gen Z. What do you think?
Image by Yolanda Arguello from Pixabay