- Americans’ happiness is at a new low, driven by people under 30 experiencing a decline in well-being.
- A new report shows the correlation between between sharing meals and a person’s well-being.
- This isn’t the first report to spotlight unhappiness among young Americans, especially Gen Zers.
Young Americans are eating alone more. It could be making them unhappy.
That’s according to this year’s World Happiness Report, published on March 20, which found countries where people shared more meals report higher levels of social support and lower levels of loneliness. Additionally, the US dropped again in its happiness ranking, reaching a record low of 24th among the 147 countries measured, down from 23rd in 2023.
“The fall in the United States’ happiness ranking was largely due to a precipitous decline in well-being among Americans under 30,” per the report, which was published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and an independent editorial board. “Young people in North America and Western Europe now report the lowest well-being among all age groups.”
Globally, the report drew a strong correlation between people’s well-being and the amount of meals they shared with others.
“Countries where people share more meals have higher levels of social support and positive reciprocity, and lower levels of loneliness,” per the report. Sharing meals, the report found, was just as strong of an indicator for someone’s well-being as much as employment and income.
Dining alone has become more widespread for every age group, but especially for young Americans. In 2023, more than 25% of 18- to 24-year-olds ate all of their meals alone the previous day in 2023, per the report. People between 55 and 64, along with respondents over 65, reported eating more meals alone than the youngest group.
In 2023, one in four Americans reported eating all of their meals alone in a day, a 53% increase from 2003, per data from the American Time Use Survey used in the report.
This isn’t the first report to spotlight unhappiness among young Americans, especially Gen Zers — who are between the ages of 13 and 28. Gen Z faces challenges including the high cost of living while they’re building their careers, accruing more credit card debt than millennials did at their age, finding purpose in their work, and what seems like constant rejection.
Research released last year examined a group within Gen Z dubbed “disconnected youth,” who range from 18 to 24 years old, and who are neither employed nor enrolled in school, Business Insider previously reported.
It isn’t exactly clear what’s behind the correlation between sharing meals and a person’s well-being, the report found. However, young people are feeling more lonely: in 2023, 19% of young adults around the world said they didn’t have anyone they could count on for social support. That’s a 39% increase from 2006.
And all this could have long-term health effects on young people as social isolation has been described as a public health issue that worsens physical and mental health.
The Gallup World Poll collected the data for the report by surveying more than 100,000 people in 140 countries and territories.
Are you a young person feeling isolated in your job or social life? Are you comfortable sharing your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at jdeng@insider.com.
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