The World Happiness Report shows that the United States does not rank among the top 20 happiest countries.
Gen Z is facing the “equivalent of a midlife crisis” and is feeling less happy than older generations, according to a global study. The World Happiness Report released on Wednesday showed that the United States has entered the top 20 happiest countries, falling to 23rd place. The report also said that the happiness of young people under the age of 30 currently ranks 62nd among 143 countries, while the United States ranks 10th among adults aged 60 and over. This particular statistic has health care experts concerned, with the nation’s top surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, blaming social media.
Dr Murthy told the Guardian: “Allowing children to use social media is like giving them drugs that have not been proven to be safe.” He added that the government’s failure to regulate social media was “crazy”.
The doctor said American teens spend nearly five hours a day on social media, with one in three staying up until midnight on their devices on weeknights. He called for “immediate” legislation to reduce the harm social media is causing to young people, including limiting or eliminating features such as buttons and infinite scroll.
The World Happiness Report is an annual barometer of well-being for 140 countries, co-ordinated by the Center for Well-Being Research at the University of Oxford, Gallup and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
For more than a decade, research has shown that young people are happier than their elders. But that changed in 2017, and by 2024, the United States had fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries.
Professor Jan-Emmanuel Denev, director of the Center for Happiness Research and editor of the study, said the report showed “a disturbing decline in happiness among young people, particularly in North America and Western Europe”.
He added: “It is believed that children in some parts of the world have already experienced the equivalent of a midlife crisis, requiring immediate policy action.”
Britons under 30 are ranked 32nd, behind the likes of Moldova, Kosovo and even El Salvador.
