The happiness curve is collapsing.
For decades, research showed that the way people experienced happiness across their lifetimes looked like a U-shaped curve. Happiness tended to be high when they were young, then dipped in midlife, only to rise again as they grew old.
But recent surveys suggest that young adults aren’t as happy as they used to be, and that U-shaped curve is starting to flatten.
This pattern has shown up yet again in a new study, one of a collection of papers published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Mental Health. They are the first publications based on the inaugural wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard and Baylor University.
The data, collected by Gallup primarily in 2023, was derived from self-reported surveys of more than 200,000 people in over 20 countries. It found that, on average, young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 were struggling — not only with happiness, but also with their physical and mental health, their perceptions of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships and their financial security. The researchers combined these measures to determine the degree that each participant was “flourishing,” or living in a state where all aspects of life were good.
The study participants had relatively low measures of flourishing on average until age 50, the study found. This was the case in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia. But the difference between the younger and older adults was largest in the United States, the researchers said.
“It is a pretty stark picture,” said Tyler J. VanderWeele, the lead author of the study and director of Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program. The findings raise an important question, he said: “Are we sufficiently investing in the well-being of youth?”
Young adulthood has long been considered a carefree time, a period of limitless opportunity and few obligations. But data from the flourishing study and elsewhere suggests that for many people, this notion is more fantasy than reality.
A 2023 report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, for example, found that young adults ages 18-25 in the United States reported double the rates of anxiety and depression as teens. On top of that, perfectionism has skyrocketed among college students, who often report feeling pressure to meet unrealistic expectations. Participation in community organizations, clubs and religious groups has declined, and loneliness is now becoming as prevalent among young adults as it is among older adults.
“Study after study shows that social connection is critical for happiness, and young people are spending less time with friends than they were a decade ago,” said Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale and host of “The Happiness Lab” podcast. “Plus, like folks of all ages, young people are facing a world with a whole host of global issues — from climate to the economy to political polarization.”
Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, put it this way: “Our welfare is dependent on the welfare of every other human. We don’t just get to be happy and put a fence around ourselves.”
In her view, the flourishing data reflects the “long-term consequences of being hyperfocused on status and power,” especially in the U.S., rather than our place within a larger community.
Given that the surveys were administered at different times, in different languages and in different economic, political and cultural environments, it is challenging to directly compare the different countries, Dr. VanderWeele said. While the geographic scope of the study was vast, the current analysis does not include mainland China, where data collection was delayed. In addition, low-income countries were not represented.
Not every country saw flourishing increase with age. There were some countries, such as Poland and Tanzania, where flourishing actually decreased as people grew older. While others, including Japan and Kenya, showed the more traditional U-shaped pattern: Flourishing was highest during youth and old age.
But in most of the Western countries — and many others — young adults don’t appear to be flourishing. The Global Flourishing Study will continue to collect data annually through 2027 and attempt to uncover the reasons, Dr. VanderWeele said.
“We know that the young are in trouble,” said David G. Blanchflower, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College who was not involved in the flourishing study but whose own research has uncovered the same patterns.
Dr. Blanchflower is helping to organize a conference at Dartmouth in partnership with the United Nations so that experts can share research and ideas for solutions to the downward trend.
There are several theories as to why young people are in trouble, he said, but he suspects that the problem is largely tied to what they aren’t doing because they’re busy looking at screens.
“It’s not that they’re bowling alone,” he added, referring to Robert D. Putnam’s seminal book, published 25 years ago, that warned about the dangers of social isolation. “It’s that they are not bowling at all.”
