In the World Happiness Report published by the US-based consultancy company Gallup, Oxford University Wellbeing Research Center and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network, it was stated that young people are becoming unhappy day by day. According to the report, young people are becoming more and more like their unhappy parents, do not want to be exhausted and tired like their elders, do not see universities as academic guarantees and think that those who do not have a bachelor's degree will face more difficulties.
HAPPIEST YOUNG PEOPLE IN ISLANDIC COUNTRIES
In the report, it was stated that the happiest young people were in Finland, followed by Denmark. The Scandinavian countries of Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were among the top 10 countries with happy young people.
The report included the following statements:
"The top 10 countries have remained almost the same since before COVID. Finland is still in first place, Denmark is very close, and all 5 Nordic countries are in the top 10. But there are more changes in the next 10, with the transition countries of Eastern Europe (notably Czechia, Lithuania and Slovenia) rising in happiness. Partly for this reason, the United States and Germany have fallen to 23 and 24 in the rankings."
"BLEAK FUTURE"
"Young adults are being hit from all sides by a toxic combination of government policies, the housing affordability crisis, stagnating wages and high living costs. With their future looking so bleak, it's no wonder this generation is experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health problems."
Richard Layard, professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) and co-author of the World Happiness Report, said that all the findings show that more needs to be done to support the education, training and mental health of young people. Layard also noted that, according to another study by LSE and the Resolution Foundation for 2030, the UK is the only one of the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where the literacy and numeracy skills of 16-24 year olds are no higher than those of 55-65 year olds.
This is about twice the average in France and Germany. Not much has changed since 2007, when UNICEF published a table comparing 21 economically developed countries on 40 indicators that can affect children's well-being, including poverty, family relationships, health and safety, education and children's own sense of well-being.
