According to the 2024 Happiness Report released by the United Nations on Wednesday, happiness studies show a more nuanced picture of people that changes over time and space. Romania ranks 32nd in this ranking, where young people are happier than older people. If we take into account only young people, the level of happiness of Romanians puts them in 8th place in the world.

​In this edition of the World Happiness Report, the authors focused on the happiness of people at different stages of life.

Young people are the happiest in the West, says the report. After that, the level of happiness drops until middle age, after which it starts to rise again. But from 2006 to 2010, the level of happiness among young people (ages 15-24) in North America fell sharply – to the point where young people were less happy than older people.

• Youth happiness also fell in Western Europe (but less sharply). The former Soviet Union and East Asia also saw increases in happiness across all age groups. Meanwhile, in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, happiness fell across all age groups.

• The top 10 countries have hardly changed since before COVID. Finland is the country with the happiest people, followed by Denmark. All five Scandinavian countries entered the top ten. But there were many changes in the next ten: the countries of Eastern Europe rose in the ranking (especially the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovenia). The United States and Germany fell to 23rd and 24th places in the ranking.

• In many regions, but not in all, the young are happier than the old. Only in North America has the level of happiness of the young fallen so dramatically that they are now less happy than the old. On the contrary, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with transition economies, young people are much happier than old people. In general, in Western Europe, happiness is the same at all ages, while in other countries it tends to decline over the life cycle.

• The ranking of countries by the level of happiness is very different for the young and the old. A generation later, those born before 1965 are happier than those born after 1980.

• In Central and Eastern Europe, young people are now as happy as in Western Europe, and among older people the gap between East and West is half of what it was in 2006-10, although still large (a whole point on the scale) from to 0 to 10).

• Now, negative emotions are more widespread than in 2006-2010, everywhere, less so in East Asia and Europe. In 2021-2023, negative emotions were more common among women than among men in each region.

• The COVID crisis has led to an increase in the number of people helping others in need. This increase in kindness was significant for all generations, but especially for those born after 1980, who are more inclined to help others.

• In almost every region, feelings of social support outweigh feelings of loneliness by more than twice. Both social support and loneliness affect happiness, with social support usually having a greater effect.

• In most countries, life satisfaction gradually declines from childhood to adolescence. Around the world, 15- to 24-year-olds are more satisfied with life than older people. But this gap is narrowing in Western Europe and has narrowed in North America.

Photo source: Eldar Nurkovich Dreamstime.com