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Key points
- The United States ranks 23rd, and Canada 15th, on a global measure of happiness across countries.
- People under 30 are far less happy than people over 60.
- Happiness depends as much on perception and expectations as economic wellbeing.
According to a recent survey of people’s happiness globally, the World Happiness Report 2024 (WHR), the United States is ranked 23rd and Canada 15th among 143 countries. By comparison, Afghanistan and Lebanon are ranked the least happy places to live. The numbers, though, hide some depressing differences across age groups. According to the report’s lead author, John Helliwell at the University of British Columbia, among those over 60, happiness scores would climb into the top 10 for both the US and Canada, while for those under 30, happiness scores drop to the US ranking to 62nd and Canada to 58th.
Obviously, our young people are losing hope. Combine these numbers with rates of loneliness (which I’ve discussed in a previous post) and a housing crisis that is shortchanging young people of a secure place to live, and one has a formula for a lost generation.
Happiness is not, though, just about wealth. In fact, the WHR includes six key variables that are assessed to understand patterns of happiness across countries. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is just one factor, but so are healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. Apparently, our individual happiness has much more to do with connections, life satisfaction, a positive future orientation and a sense of personal and social efficacy. None of this seems to be within the grasp of young people who are increasingly confronted with the reality of an unstable gig economy, an environmental emergency that creeps up on us daily like a doomsday clock, and the knowledge they are unlikely to achieve the financial success their parents have enjoyed.
What is odd about this bleak picture is that it ignores many positive indices of near record low rates of unemployment, economic markets that keep roaring along, inflation coming under control and more social justice than ever before. And yet, our perception is that things are awful. How can things be both good and bad at the same time? And what does this ambiguity mean for our collective sense of well-being?
It is easy to ignore the impact of fragmented politics, or manipulation of those on the left and right to tell a story of a society that just keeps disappointing. Unfortunately, these narratives are not benign. They are causing young people to lose hope at a time that they need to feel empowered. If the WHR teaches us anything it is that happiness is not necessarily a consequence of just having a positive attitude. It also depends on the social triggers that shape what we perceive to be our reality. Fear of missing out, social media’s endless comparisons between my life and everyone else’s life (whether someone else’s life is just a performance for the camera or not), and the sense that no matter how much good happens it is never enough, is leaving us more disgruntled that we need to be. There are plenty of problems (like housing and jobs without long-term security), but there are also many reasons to be optimistic too.
The solution to being more happy is not just economic or political. It is one of perception and expectation. To objectively see the gains we are making would be a nice boost to our sense of well-being. Showing gratitude for what we have, and the people in our lives might jumpstart a better mood. Even acknowledging that we are now, more than ever, naming problems like racism and environmental injustice means we are more likely to solve these problems. That is if we can see that the glass is half full even as we address the serious problems we still face.
Our happiness would also be improved if we addressed the fragmentation we experience in our communities and workplaces. In my own research on resilience, one consistent theme is that people withstand stress better when they experience more diversity in their network of relationships and the opinions and values they encounter in others.
Together, happiness is possible, but it will take some concerted effort to both remind ourselves of what is going well and the power to change what isn’t.
