Young adults in Sweden feel much worse than older people in almost all areas of life. While older Swedes rank among the happiest in the world, young adults struggle with loneliness and psychological distress. These are the findings of a new large-scale study of the boom in Sweden, published in the International Journal of Wellbeing and was conducted by researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics, Lund University, Oslo Metropolitan University and Harvard University.
Based on survey responses from more than 15,000 people in Sweden, the study reveals clear age-related differences in happiness and well-being. Young adults report lower life satisfaction, a weaker sense of meaning in life, and lower financial security than older age groups. They also experience double the level of loneliness, triple the symptoms of depression and seven times the level of anxiety compared to older respondents.
Sweden stands out internationally
Our study shows that Sweden stands out in an international perspective. Sweden is one of the few countries where young adults have the lowest well-being of all age groups, while older adults report the highest life satisfaction. Loneliness among young people is also striking – in many other countries, older people are the loneliest. We need to do more to understand and reverse this trend for young adults.”
Nora Hansson Bittár, first author and PhD candidate, Center for Well-being, Prosperity and Happiness, Stockholm School of Economics
Previous research has documented higher levels of psychological distress among young people in Sweden, but this study shows that the same pattern extends to almost all areas of life. Age-related gaps in well-being are also much larger than differences linked to gender or country of birth.
Low prosperity today, high expectations for the future
Despite their lower well-being today, young adults express high expectations for their future life satisfaction. On a ten-point scale, they expect their life satisfaction to reach 8.06 in five years, compared to an overall average of 6.65.
“Young people’s optimism about the future is positive,” says Nora Hansson Bittár, “but the combination of low well-being today and very high expectations for the future brings to mind former Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander’s phrase about ‘disappointment following rising expectations.’
Elderly Swedes among the happiest in the world
The findings add a nuance to the image of Sweden as a happy country. While Sweden continues to rank high in global comparisons overall, there are large generational differences behind national averages. If the World Happiness Report used scores from young adults aged 18-24, Sweden would be ranked 30th instead of 4th, behind countries such as Lithuania, Belize and Kosovo. If, instead, scores from Swedes aged 80 and over were used, Sweden would rank first in the world.
“The study clearly shows that young people in Sweden do worse, but, on the other hand, older Swedes do extremely well,” says August Nilsson, co-author and PhD candidate at Oslo Metropolitan University. “Older Swedes are among the happiest in the world, with strong close relationships and less loneliness than their younger relatives. In a society that often idealizes youth and associates aging with weakness and isolation, we hope these findings can contribute to a positive view of aging.”
There is no evidence of a dip in middle age
The study also shows that the established “U-shaped curve” of happiness – where well-being dips in middle age – does not apply in Sweden. The data simply show no signs of the typical midlife crisis. In contrast, middle-aged Swedes report relatively high levels of well-being, despite the fact that they often balance work with responsibilities for both children and older relatives. This may be linked to Sweden’s extensive childcare and elderly care systems, which help to reduce the pressure at this stage of life.
“A key conclusion is that we need to strengthen societal efforts to support the well-being of young adults and that we need to do more to monitor and understand this development over time,” says Micael Dahlen, co-author and professor at the Center for Well-Being, Well-Being and Happiness at the Stockholm School of Economics. “The observed patterns differ both from Sweden’s past and from trends in many other countries, highlighting that happiness and well-being are shaped by local conditions and can change over time. I believe we need to measure well-being as often and as ambitiously as we measure economic growth.”
About the global boom study
The study is part of the Global Flourishing Study, a large international research program that follows more than 200,000 people in 22 countries worldwide to better understand how people are doing, how they live and how they experience meaning in life. Through annual surveys over five years, researchers examine both well-being and the social factors that shape quality of life. The survey data used in this study was collected in 2023.
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