In the 2025 World Happiness Report, the United States dropped to its lowest ranking since that survey began.
The U.S. ranked 24th out of 147 countries, a decline from its 15th-place ranking in 2023 and its highest ranking of 11th place in 2012.
The low score can be attributed by the unhappiness of people under the age of 30. While the U.S. was 24th overall, for people aged 20-30, we were 62nd.
Why are young people unhappy?
Typically, happiness follows a U-shaped curve over a lifetime. Younger people and people over 50 tend to be happier than those navigating their middle years. My theory is that the young are mostly living through an age of innocence and hope, while older people have finally released themselves from the pressure of chasing traditional measures of success and unattainable dreams.
Now adolescents and young adults are shrinking the left side of that U. The prevalence of diagnosed mood disorders among the younger cohort is higher than ever.
What’s missing for the young?
For answers, I went straight to the source to conduct qualitative research, speaking with some people I know in the 20-30 age range. What’s mostly missing for many is close friendships, economic opportunity, and hope for the future. In their place: toxic social media that connects people digitally but not in person, shitty jobs that don’t pay a decent living wage, and a planet experiencing deep ecological trauma—all while the older generation that’s still in running the show seem more interested in their own power and wealth and not in making the world better for future generations.
When I asked one young adult why his age group is so unhappy, he said, “I don’t know, I’m happy,” but then went on to list how many young people lack close friends, feel isolated and anxious, and are trapped in a vicious and depressing social media cycle.
Another young person told me she can’t find the job she wants despite her education and experience and can’t afford a decent place to live. Plus she’s in debt from education loans she’d taken out thinking this was the path to a better life.
Another—who by economic and social measures is doing well—cited the precarious feeling that even the good vibrations can come to a sudden halt at any time. For example, you lose your job and you lose your health care coverage, which isn’t that great to begin with. Or your neighborhood burns down.
Other young adults have lost trust in society and people. It’s not just supply-side-tax-breaks-for-the-rich economics coming from the White House, it’s the incessant and obvious lying and cruelty, minute after minute, every news cycle.
Makes it tough to be happy. The Declaration of Independence states the pursuit of happiness is one of our inalienable rights, but I believe too much emphasis is placed on happiness.
Happiness isn’t a fixed end state and therefore is not a lasting, achievable goal. Happiness is a transient emotion, here and then gone, here and then gone, just like other emotions such as sadness, anger, disgust, enjoyment, fear, and surprise. At any given time, we can experience any of these emotions. But to pursue a single positive emotion as our steady state is an impossible endeavor.
What we can do—at any age—is pursue meaning and purpose in our lives. Ask ourselves and answer questions such as: What do I want my life to be about? How can I best make use of my tiny slice of existence? Who is the person I want to be? Who can I love and who can I help, and who can love and help me? How do I want to be remembered when I’m gone?
The anxiety, the lack of trust, the isolation, the economic challenges — they won’t disappear. But perhaps be somewhat mitigated? The younger we are when we begin our search for purpose, the more likely we are to shape a meaningful life and become connected with others, and I believe what might follow are more moments of happiness and fewer moments of despair.
