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Led by Its Youth, U.S. Sinks in World Happiness Report – The New York Times

U.S.|Led by Its Youth, U.S. Sinks in World Happiness Report

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/us/world-happiness-report-finland-us.html

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For the first time since the first World Happiness Report was issued 2012, the United States was not ranked among the world’s Top 20 happiest countries. The drop was driven by people under 30.

A small American flag is held in the right hand of a person seated in the chair, over their right knee. The person wears a watch on their left wrist.
Among 143 countries surveyed, the United States ranks 62nd in happiness for people under 30.Credit…Rebecca Noble for The New York Times

Each year, it’s no surprise that Finland tops the annual World Happiness Report. And this year was no different, marking the country’s seventh consecutive year doing so — though some Finns have bristled at the title.

But the 2024 report, released on Wednesday, had a note of alarm that was less about who was at the top of the rankings and more about who wasn’t: Americans — particularly those under 30 — have become drastically less happy in recent years.

The report, compiled annually by a consortium of groups including the United Nations and Gallup, was the latest data point in what some researchers have described as a crisis among America’s youth.

For the first time since the first World Happiness Report was published in 2012, the United States fell out of the Top 20 and dropped to 23rd, pushed down by cratering attitudes of Americans under 30.

Americans have long been an unhappy bunch. They have never ranked in the Top 10 of the World Happiness Report, which is based on how respondents in different countries rate their own happiness.

But this was the first time that the consortium separated results by age, finding disparities in the views of younger and older Americans. Among the 143 countries surveyed, the United States ranked 10th for people 60 and older, but 62nd for people under 30. The happiest young people are in Lithuania, while the unhappiest are in Afghanistan.


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