For more than half a century, the quarantine crisis has been a characteristic of Western society. Quick cars, impulsive decisions and advanced misery between 40 to 50 years. But everything that changes, according to experts.
In a new paper commanded by the UN, the main academics Jean Twege And David Blanchflower warning that an emerging crisis in mental health of young people in six English -speaking countries around the world overturns the traditional model of happiness during our lives.
While happiness was once considered as a U -shaped form – with a relatively carefree youth, a more difficult average age and a more comfortable life – well -being experts say that our satisfaction now increases regularly with age.
“The U-shaped form in age well-being that existed in these countries has now disappeared, replaced by a crisis of well-being among young people,” according to the document published by the American National Office of Economic Research.
Analysis of responses to surveys in the United States, the United Kingdom, IrelandAustralia, Canada and New Zealand, the study revealed that the satisfaction and the happiness of life had fallen among young people in the last decade, and in particular among young women.
He underlined the rise of smartphones and social media, suggesting that the trend has coincided with the growth of Internet use, with the impact on visible happiness in surveys in the six countries and in several other countries in the world.
“It could end up being a lost generation,” said Blanchflower, a former decision -maker of the Bank of England, in The Guardian in an interview. He said that there had been a sharp drop in well-being in the United States and the United Kingdom in particular, and underlined the growth of social media, cyberbullying and online body shame.
“Young people have become isolated. It’s not so much that people sit on the phone, that’s what they don’t do. They do not come out so much; Playing with their friends, interacting with others or having so many sexual relations.
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“I don’t think there is a doubt that you have an absolute global crisis. Young are in depth and in difficulty. And the question is what are we doing about it? And we don’t know.
British economist of the British market now at the prestigious US Dartmouth College, Blanchflower had written an article in 2020 by looking at nearly 150 advanced and developing countries and found the same form U in the happiness applied everywhere. However, he now says that he missed the collapse of the well-being of young people from 2013 in the survey data, before starting to work with Twege, who is a leading expert on the subject.
“I looked and thought,” Oh shit, she’s right. What had happened is a very big problem. It was not covid, he had started before that, but it extended it after 2020. ”
Other studies have established links between the mental health crisis for young people and intergenerational inequalityUnregulated social media, employment without security and climate crisis. Young people also like to be outside the job market with mental health problems.
Blanchflower said that the collapse of the well-being of young people could have large social and economic consequences. “The economy of this is really a big problem. This potentially concerns children who withdraw from school; Then they leave the active population. Presumably, this will affect your performance at school, it may well have an impact on global productivity, “he added.
He said the UN had ordered additional research to determine whether the phenomenon could be found elsewhere in the world. “The UN considers it a huge global crisis,” he added.
“We have always thought that when life becomes more realistic, happiness decreases because of pressures, then you realize that life is not so bad. We must rethink all this thought. »»