Study Reveals Striking Downturn in Youth Well-Being

2025-09-15 07:13:58

(MENAFN) A sweeping international study has revealed a striking downturn in life satisfaction among young adults, marking a dramatic shift in long-standing quality of life trends, according to a Danish broadcaster.

Published in the journal PLOS One, the study assessed well-being data from 44 countries gathered between 2020 and 2025. Researchers found that today’s younger generations report the lowest levels of life satisfaction, inverting the traditional U-shaped pattern of well-being that previously bottomed out in midlife, typically around age 40.

The data now show that instead of middle age representing the nadir of happiness, the steepest drop in life satisfaction is occurring much earlier — during young adulthood.
Supporting this trend, another study by Realdania confirmed that in Denmark, older adults currently report the highest levels of life satisfaction.

"We just have to acknowledge that the generation that is currently between 18 and 29 years old - that is, those who are young and are establishing themselves with education and in the labor market - has a lower perceived quality of life than we have seen before. And that is something we should be concerned about as a society," said Henrik Mahncke, head of analysis at Realdania.

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