New Study Reveals Gen Z Is Rewriting the Happiness Curve — and It’s Not Looking Good
For decades, researchers believed happiness followed a predictable U-shaped curve: high in youth, dipping in middle age, and rising again in older adulthood. But new research suggests that the curve may now resemble a J, and not in a good way.
A recent analysis published in Nature Mental Health, the result of a collaboration between Harvard and Baylor University, found that people ages 18 to 29 are facing alarming declines in happiness, health, self-worth, life meaning, relationships, and financial stability. This data, drawn from more than 200,000 individuals across 20 studies, paints a troubling picture of young adulthood.
“It is a pretty stark picture,” said Dr. Tyler J. VanderWeele, lead author and director of Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program. The findings come from the Global Flourishing Study, which is tracking global well-being through 2027.
The takeaway: young people are not thriving, and the factors could be far-reaching, from the mental health toll of social media to climate anxiety and economic insecurity. In Western nations, flourishing doesn’t begin to significantly rise until around age 50.
Researchers are now asking an urgent question: Are we doing enough to support the well-being of today’s youth?
And if the current state of Gen Z is an indicator, the outlook for even younger generations may be just as troubling. Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center warns that societal well-being is interconnected: “We don’t just get to be happy and put a fence around ourselves.”
This study is a wake-up call, not just to reevaluate what happiness looks like, but to take real steps to ensure the next generation has the tools to find it.
