If Everything in Life Keeps Getting Better, Why Are Happiness Levels Plummeting?

Counterintuitive Unhappiness This is really counterintuitive and interesting. Over the last several years, we have seen happiness levels in the United States plummet. They have really declined. It used to be that most people said they were very happy. Now the number of people who say they are very unhappy has surpassed the number of people who say they’re very happy. So, more people claim to be very unhappy compared to those who claim to be very happy. Just in the last few years, happiness levels have kind of dropped off a cliff in the United States especially, and happiness levels have declined the most among people who have the most education and the most wealth. It’s really interesting because these are the people who have the most resources and probably the most insulation. We might think the buffer between me and unhappiness is bigger if I’m educated, if I’m employed, or if I have wealth or other resources. But those are the people who are the least happy. So, it should make us pause and wonder, With our access to all of these things to make us happy, why are we the most miserable? What is going on here? Why Is It So Hard to Be Happy? Jen Oshman In a world obsessed with happin...