Young adults report lower well-being than people in middle age, reversing decades of research that showed a midlife "unhappiness hump," according to a new multi-country study.

Study Finds U-Shaped Happiness Curve Flips For Youth

The analysis by David G. Blanchflower, Alex Bryson and Xiaowei Xu, published last week, finds the classic U-shaped life-satisfaction curve has flattened or flipped for today's youth as mental health strains mount.

The authors say rising distress among the young explains the shift. "We started out seeing this in the US, where we initially found that despair -- where people say that every day of their life is a bad mental health day -- has exploded for the young, especially among young women. We then found the same in the UK. And we have now seen that all around the world," Blanchflower told The Times of London.

Global Indicators Show Early-Life Flourishing Sharply Drops

Other data points the same way. The Global Flourishing Study, a Harvard-Baylor-Gallup effort, shows that younger adults now start with lower "flourishing" scores and don't see improvements until later in life.

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As The Atlantic columnist Arthur C. Brooks put it, "Given the well-documented increase over the past decades in diagnosed mood disorders among adolescents and young adults, we might expect that left side [younger adults] to be pushed down in newer estimates. And sure enough, this is exactly what the new GFS study finds, in the U.S. and around the world: The flourishing scores don’t fall from early adulthood, because they now start low; they stay low until they start to rise at the expected age."

US Data Show Slump As Policy Debates Intensify

In the U.S., fresh polling highlights the slump. A Gallup–Walton Family Foundation survey in August found only 39% of Gen Z adults consider themselves "thriving," down five points from 2024, even as middle and high school students report higher well-being.

Policy debates over causes and cures are intensifying. Some researchers emphasize social media and screen time. Others cite loneliness, economics and family stress.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, last year, urged warning labels on social platforms over youth mental-health risks, while separate CDC analyses link teen stress and anxiety to substance use.

Photo Courtesy: AnnaStills on Shuttertsock.com

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