The Middle-Aged Are No Longer the Most Miserable

Youth used to be cheerful. No more.

- 

For decades, surveys have suggested that middle age is the low point of life. While young and old generally reported high levels of life satisfaction, those in midlife endured a slump. This "U-bend of happiness" or "hump of despair," depending on perspective, has been documented hundreds of times across many countries. The age of peak misery varied—the Swiss were saddest at 35, Ukrainians in their 60s—but the pattern was consistent.

Recently, however, the curve seems to have become warped. A study published on Aug 27 in Plos One by economists David Blanchflower, Alex Bryson, and Xiaowei Xu finds that young people across the world are now reporting the highest levels of misery of any age group. "We've seen a change from a hump shape to a ski slope," says Dr. Bryson.

The authors first spotted the shift in the Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a long-running survey of Americans. They calculated the share of respondents of each age who reported having poor mental health every day in the past month.

Between 2009 and 2018, the familiar hump was present: Misery peaked in middle age. But from 2019 to 2024, the pattern changed. Levels of unhappiness in middle-aged and older adults remained roughly stable, while despair among younger people rose (see top chart).