Mental ill-being is now concentrated among younger people in the United States and the United Kingdom, reversing the historical midlife peak in unhappiness. Large-scale surveys covering more than 10 million US adults and 40,000 UK households show the previously observed U-shaped wellbeing curve no longer holds. Wellbeing no longer peaks in childhood then bottoms around middle age before rebounding; instead, mental health is worse among the young and improves with age. The causes remain disputed but possible contributors include long-term economic impacts such as the Great Recession on younger cohorts and broader declines in youth mental health.
Ours is the first paper to show that the decline in young people's mental health in recent years means that today, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, mental ill-being is highest among the young and declines with age,
This is a huge change from the past when mental ill-being peaked in middle-age. The reasons for the change are disputed but our concern is that today there is a serious mental health crisis among the young that needs addressing.
Previous studies have pointed to an 'unhappiness hump' - a rise in worry, stress, and depression - that peaks at the age of aroud 47 before declining again.
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