It’s becoming increasingly tough to be a young person in Western Europe, burdened by falling prospects and harmful social media that could affect everything from your future finances to the kind of family you’ll have. That is unless you’re living in the sunny climes of Portugal or Greece.
The latest World Happiness Report (WHR) has shed light on a growing joy divide between young and old across some of the world’s wealthiest countries after Gallup asked citizens from 140 nations to rank their happiness on a scale of zero to 10.
The U.S. is leading the way in terms of youth unhappiness, with authors from Oxford University noting that in 2017 the trend of young people being happier than their elders flipped, and shows little sign of reversing.
But in the affluent European economies of Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain, older generations are also described as being significantly happier than young people in the same country.
Young people are fighting unprecedented challenges that are likely to have affected their development, economic position, and happiness. This includes the proliferation of social media and smartphones, rising inflation and higher interest rates, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it seems those trends haven’t dampened the spirits of young people in Portugal and Greece. Indeed, the countries are observing the complete opposite trends in generational happiness compared with their wealthier neighbors.
Portugal and Greece bucking the trend
It might not seem that surprising to outsiders that Portugal and Greece are faring better than their neighbors in terms of happiness levels.
In Portugal, people below the age of 30 ranked their collective happiness at 6.6, while those over the age of 60 ranked their happiness at 5.7.
Portugal has seen an uptick in interest from economic migrants thanks to its relaxed way of life, hot climate, and historic openness to digital nomads.
Greece, meanwhile, is slowly emerging from years of economic turmoil set off by the Great Financial Crisis. As a result, young people are likely to feel better about their lot in life compared with people who were in the workforce during the worst of Greece’s economic strife.
In lower-income countries in Eastern Europe, like Lithuania, youth happiness is also on the rise.
Like their Eastern European counterparts, Portugal and Greece are both admittedly coming from a lower happiness base than the more well-off countries in the study.
But if sustained, it may be the start of a longer-term trend that sees the overall happiness of those countries leapfrog traditionally happy countries.
Portuguese young people’s happiness already ranks above those of people in Germany and France, for example.
And over the past 15 years, Portuguese residents as a whole have gotten happier over the last 15 years, while those in Germany, France, and the U.K. are less happy now than between 2006 and 2008.
But young people in Portugal are facing their own problems, partly as a result of their growing profiles.
It is becoming increasingly unaffordable to live in certain parts of Portugal, particularly hubs like Lisbon and Porto, thanks in part to rising interest from high-income migrants to work in the country. That has had the effect of pricing out younger workers.
A World Health Organization-backed Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study found worsening mental health among Portuguese adolescents, .
Wealthy countries fight youth unhappiness scourge
Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre and an editor on the WHR, pointed out to Fortune that shifting changes in global rankings are heavily driven by shifts among young people, for better and worse.
Germany and the U.S. each fell eight places on the WHR ranking in the space of a year.
In the U.S., over-60s rank 10th in terms of global happiness, while under-30s rank 62nd.
A spotlight on youth unhappiness in the latest Global Happiness Report feels timely, given a consistent stream of data suggesting adverse mental health is beginning to have a defined impact on the rest of their lives.
Research from the U.K. think tank Resolution Foundation found that a youth mental health crisis was contributing to rising instances of sick leave among Gen Z, who were now more likely to call in sick than Gen Xers 20 years their senior, a new, troubling trend.
This has also come at a time when young people are increasingly forgoing work. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, around 3 million Gen Zers aged 16-25 were economically inactive,
There is no “smoking gun” to explain falling youth happiness levels, according to De Neve, who pointed at things like a “disentangling of the social fabric.”
Increased use of smartphones and social media might have driven that trend, as could rising inequality in developed countries.
Falling levels of literacy in some countries have stunted opportunities for young people to progress, as have economic obstacles, including higher inflation and an out-of-control housing market.
These pressures have caused something of a breakdown in the traditional U-shaped curve of happiness, where people typically stay happy in their early years, before becoming unhappier in midlife and returning to peak happiness in as they age into retirement.
“You can almost talk about youth having their midlife crisis today, in the case of North America, and to a lesser extent Britain and Western Europe,” De Neve said.
De Neve was keen to point out the successes in youth happiness in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and some regions of Asia, as a sign that youths aren’t necessarily doomed.
“I’m hoping that it is a hopeful message. If it’s happening elsewhere in the world, a positive trend for youth, hopefully North America can do the same.”
