Youth Much Less Happy In North America, Western Europe: World Happiness Report

In North America and Western Europe, young people are much less happy than 15 years ago. Over the same period, social media use has greatly increased. Many people blame social media for this fall in happiness, according to findings published in the 2026 edition of the World Happiness Report.

Heavy social media use appears to be contributing to the drop in well-being among young people in English-speaking countries and Western Europe, especially among girls, says the Report, published on Thursday by the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford, in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and an independent editorial board.

by Joji Xavier

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