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How happy are you? The Gallup World Poll provides a simple way to measure happiness around the world.
Imagine a ladder and think about your current life. The 10 in the top row represents the best possible lifespan, and the 0 in the bottom row represents the worst possible lifespan. Please select a number.
Researchers are using the responses to rank the happiness of countries around the world, and the results for 2024 have just been released.
This year, Finland topped the list. Researchers cite factors such as high levels of social support and healthy life expectancy to explain the Scandinavian countries' top spot.
North America doesn't fare much better overall. As a country, the United States has dropped from 15th to 23rd in the world rankings. However, researchers point out that there are significant generational rifts.
People age 60 and older in the United States report higher levels of happiness compared to younger people. In fact, the United States ranks in the top 10 for happiness among this age group.
Conversely, in the United States, happiness levels are declining among young adults and young adults. “The report found that self-reported happiness among people under 30 has declined dramatically.'' The book's author, Jean-Emmanuel de Neve, says: Professor of Economics and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Center for Wellbeing Research at the University of Oxford.
This decline in young people is also evident in Canada, Australia, and to a lesser extent in parts of Western Europe and the United Kingdom. “We knew there was a relationship between age and happiness, but the biggest surprise was that it was more nuanced than previously thought, and that it was changing,” says Gallup Managing Director says Ilana Ron-Levay.
“Young people in North America are less happy than older people,” Ron-Levay said. This ranking is based on responses from a representative sample of approximately 1,000 respondents from each country.
There are various factors that may explain these changes.
De Neve and his colleagues say it's not really surprising that older people are relatively happy. Researchers have long observed a U-shaped curve to happiness.
Children are usually happy, but people tend to reach the bottom (U) of happiness in middle age. At age 60, life becomes more secure, especially for people who are healthy, financially stable, and socially connected. Living in a country with a strong social safety net also helps.
“The great pressures of life, [such as] Having young children, having to pay a mortgage, having a job is probably tapering off a little bit,” de Neve says. But what was very unexpected, he says, was how much happiness fell among young people.
“We actually expect young people to start out with higher levels of happiness than middle-aged people,” de Neve says.
“People are hearing stories that the world is going to hell, and young people in particular feel threatened,” said John Helliwell, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the study. To tell.
He said many young people may be feeling the weight of climate change, social inequality and political polarization, all of which can be amplified on social media.
But hope is not lost, Helliwell said.
He points to Eastern European countries where young people's happiness levels are rising.
According to him, older generations in countries that make up the former Yugoslavia tend to be less happy. “They carry the scars of genocide and conflict,” he says.
But he says young people are looking beyond this history. “New generations can put that behind them and think about building a better future and feel like they can be part of it,” says Helliwell.
This article was edited by Jane Greenhalgh