Mar 25, 2024 05:18 PM
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/c...056887007/
INTRO: Young people in the United States aren’t happy. At least, that’s the takeaway from this year’s World Happiness Report.
The annual analysis by Gallup, the United Nations, and more ranked the United States at No. 23, knocking the country out of the top 20 for the first time ever. It’s apparently all thanks to the folks under 30 – when they’re the only ones accounted for, the country falls to 62 in the rankings.
As someone who is under 30, I’m not surprised in the slightest. In the 2021-2023 period, we have experienced huge life changes amid a pandemic, a new president and persistent economic anxiety. We, collectively, aren’t OK.
The happiness scores come from six criteria – GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Despite the large-scale criteria, I have some ideas as to why people my age are unhappier than older folks in the United States.
One of the biggest sources of unhappiness for people my age has been the aftermath of COVID-19.
Think about it: for those of us who were entering adulthood four years ago, the “before” and “after” of the pandemic has been drastic. Some of these young people finished high school or college during COVID. Others were just starting their careers.
Suddenly, we all had to confront the reality of disease, of isolation and of government incompetence. Then, we had to confront death – nearly 1.2 million people have died of COVID since the CDC began tracking cases in 2020.
Then came the economic ramifications of COVID. A USA TODAY analysis of Medicaid data revealed a 17% increase in Zoloft prescriptions from 2019 to 2022, and a 12% increase in mental health drug prescriptions overall.
Groceries got more expensive. Student loan payments restarted after a three-year pause. The cost of renting increased 15% between 2020 and 2022, and Redfin data from 2023 showed a 44% increase in the country’s median home price since January 2020. For people under 30, these financial stressors hit during a coming-of-age period that is defined by the very things that went upside down.
Conversely, there have also been increases in youth suicide and homicide rates since the start of the pandemic. These deaths also affect the emotional wellbeing of everyone in the victim’s immediate network.
Everyone went through the pandemic. The fact that it hit at such a specific time – when so many of us were transitioning to adulthood – made it difficult, and the "after" is still being felt... (MORE - details)
INTRO: Young people in the United States aren’t happy. At least, that’s the takeaway from this year’s World Happiness Report.
The annual analysis by Gallup, the United Nations, and more ranked the United States at No. 23, knocking the country out of the top 20 for the first time ever. It’s apparently all thanks to the folks under 30 – when they’re the only ones accounted for, the country falls to 62 in the rankings.
As someone who is under 30, I’m not surprised in the slightest. In the 2021-2023 period, we have experienced huge life changes amid a pandemic, a new president and persistent economic anxiety. We, collectively, aren’t OK.
The happiness scores come from six criteria – GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Despite the large-scale criteria, I have some ideas as to why people my age are unhappier than older folks in the United States.
One of the biggest sources of unhappiness for people my age has been the aftermath of COVID-19.
Think about it: for those of us who were entering adulthood four years ago, the “before” and “after” of the pandemic has been drastic. Some of these young people finished high school or college during COVID. Others were just starting their careers.
Suddenly, we all had to confront the reality of disease, of isolation and of government incompetence. Then, we had to confront death – nearly 1.2 million people have died of COVID since the CDC began tracking cases in 2020.
Then came the economic ramifications of COVID. A USA TODAY analysis of Medicaid data revealed a 17% increase in Zoloft prescriptions from 2019 to 2022, and a 12% increase in mental health drug prescriptions overall.
Groceries got more expensive. Student loan payments restarted after a three-year pause. The cost of renting increased 15% between 2020 and 2022, and Redfin data from 2023 showed a 44% increase in the country’s median home price since January 2020. For people under 30, these financial stressors hit during a coming-of-age period that is defined by the very things that went upside down.
Conversely, there have also been increases in youth suicide and homicide rates since the start of the pandemic. These deaths also affect the emotional wellbeing of everyone in the victim’s immediate network.
Everyone went through the pandemic. The fact that it hit at such a specific time – when so many of us were transitioning to adulthood – made it difficult, and the "after" is still being felt... (MORE - details)
