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Diving into the American happiness gap

By Michael Falero

Published Apr 1, 2024 12:12 PM

Listen • 46:19

Minji Park smiles after he got a kiss from his 15 month-old daughter Danbi (R) while his wife takes their photo under blooming Cherry trees near the tidal basin in Washington, DC.

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Are you happy?

It’s a suprisingly tough question. Especially for our domestic listeners.

The annual World Happiness Report shows that America has now fallen out of the top 20 happiest countries. Young people are leading this decline. This segment of the U.S. population now ranks 62nd out of 143 countries, behind their counterparts in Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

Americans over 60 still rank highly, alongside cheerful mainstays like the Netherlands, Iceland, and New Zealand.

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Why have we gotten less happy? How does our culture and history affect our view on what happiness is? And is there a better approach to finding happiness?