WASHINGTON, D.C.-The United States has fallen out of the top 20 in the annual global rankings of the happiest countries in the world for the first time.
America dropped from 15th to 23rd in the latest index, due in large part to the discontent of the under-30 demographic, according to NBC News reporting.
The World Happiness Report has ranked well-being around the globe for the past decade and released the 2024 edition on Wednesday, March 20, the International Day of Happiness.
Americans over 60 are some of the happiest, however, those under 30 are some of the most unhappy, according to the latest index.
The world happiness report tracks well-being and feelings of happiness, but not the causes of unhappiness, such as economic inequality between generations. Rankings are based on the self-assessment of residents from 140 countries, who rank their quality of life on a scale of one to 10.
Whatever the root cause may be, the well-being for people under 30 in the U.S. ranks below the Dominican Republic, and is in line with countries such as Malaysia and Russia, according to NBC.
