Study finds young adults now the unhappiest age group worldwide

Scientists reported Wednesday that young adults aged 18 to 24 are now the least happy age group across the United States, the United Kingdom and 44 other countries, reversing the long-held pattern in which happiness typically dipped in middle age.

The international study, led by researchers in the U.S. and U.K., found that the mental health of Generation Z has deteriorated since about 2014 and that the decline accelerated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigators said they did not identify a single cause for the change but pointed to several correlated trends, including increased school absenteeism, difficulties with learning, and a rise in young adults leaving the workforce because of mental health problems.

The researchers also reported notable sex differences: young women experienced worse mental health than young men, a pattern the team linked to higher reported rates of anxiety and depression among females. In the United States, young women showed the largest increases in measures of unhappiness compared with other demographic groups, the study said.

Historically, social-science research has documented a so-called U-shaped curve of happiness over the lifespan, with feelings of well-being dipping in middle age—often in the forties—and rising again in later life. The new findings challenge that pattern for the current cohort of young people, suggesting the curve may have shifted for Generation Z.

The authors emphasized that their findings show correlations and population-level trends rather than direct cause-and-effect for any individual. They highlighted structural and social changes that could be contributing factors, such as disruptions to education and employment pathways, increases in clinical and subclinical mental health conditions, and environmental pressures since the mid-2010s.

Public health experts and policymakers have cited concern about rising mental health needs among young people in recent years, and the study’s results add to those concerns by documenting a broad international pattern. The researchers called for further investigation into the mechanisms behind the decline, including more detailed study of education, labor-market participation, access to mental health services, and gender-specific risk factors.

The study covered data from the U.S., the U.K., and 44 other countries, providing what the authors described as a wide geographic snapshot of well-being among younger cohorts. It arrives amid an ongoing policy conversation about how to respond to increases in anxiety, depression and other indicators of poor mental health among adolescents and young adults.