A Look at Happiness From Gen Z to Boomers and Everyone In-Between

Every year the World Happiness Report announces which country is the happiest, but this annual report does much more than just that. The report is produced by a partnership of Gallop, The UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, and shows how the science of happiness impacts people’s lives around the globe.

The report takes into account the need for happiness and wellbeing  around the world. It’s a review of happiness taking different criteria into account like health, income, and freedom. One new section deals with the findings about happiness for the young, the old, and everyone in-between.

How does age affect happiness?
People go through different life stages and this can affect how happy they are (or how happy they believe they are). These rankings differ quite a bit for the young and the old.

Research finds that happiness follows a U-shaped curve across the ages with highs in childhood and adolescence due to the security found in families, reported Forbes but then there is a dip in adulthood – ages 20 – 50 – and then it curves upwards for seniors. That’s because seniors who are retired feel more secure financially and have the flexibility to pursue hobbies and travel; as long as they stay healthy.

In the case of the US and Canada the rankings tend to favor seniors, while the opposite is true in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the Happiness Report. This was to be expected in terms of the U-shaped model. What was not expected was the happiness decline in Gen Zers.

Why are youth struggling?

The causes of this decline are tied up in emotional issues. While most youth in other countries  are more likely to experience laughter and enjoyment daily, this is just not the case for Gen Zers in the US and Canada, according to The Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). In the past 15 years happiness has dramatically fallen in North America.

Youth in these countries feel more anxious, sadness, loneliness, and anger. They “reported less freedom to make life choices, lower satisfaction with their living conditions . . . as well as lower confidence in the government and higher perceptions of corruption,” according to Lara Aknin of Simon Fraser University, one of the coauthors of the report. But this generation still has the potential for happiness.

Reasons for hope
While the report looks bad, there are actually reasons for hope according to the GGSC. The pandemic, which was detrimental to the education and socializing of young people saw a surge of volunteering, helping, and donating across the generations. But for millennial and Gen Z aged respondents to the happiness report the boost in caring was the strongest.

While the reason isn’t known it could be because, “Millennials/Gen Z respondents are spending more time amidst others or in their communities, which provides both more opportunity to see the needs and provide assistance to others,” says Aknin. Or it could be because they are struggling themselves, they are drawn to help support otherwise.

So even if  their lives look less happy, in terms of the Happiness Report, Gen Zers are finding real meaning and purpose in their lives. And this is what real-life satisfaction and happiness is all about.