Released this week, the 2024 World Happiness Report paints a worrisome picture of the mental state of young people in English-speaking countries, especially here in North America.
Welcome to the 58th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to the World Happiness Report, this week’s edition looks at the cost of loneliness, the 2023 Air Quality Index, the environmental promise of white paint, and decluttering accessories.
On my mind this week: World Happiness Report
This week, the 2024 World Happiness Report was released to mark International Day of Happiness on March 20. In this year’s report, Canada ranked in 15th place overall, down from our 13th place ranking last year. Compared to English-speaking countries that I consider Canada’s peers, we’re holding our own. Australia ranks in 10th place, and the U.K. in 20th. This year, the USA fell out of the top 20 to 23rd place.
For the first time, this year’s World Happiness Report delved into happiness among different age groups. It paints a worrisome picture about the mental state of younger generations in English-speaking countries—especially here in North America.
In the Under 30 age group, Canada ranked an abysmal 58th. Australia and the U.K. did better, ranking 19th and 32nd respectively. Canada’s closest neighbours, the United States, ranked 62nd.
What’s especially distressing is the gap between the happiness of the young and the old. In the 60+ age group, Canada ranked 8th, Australia 9th, and the United States 10th. In the U.K., this older age group ranked 20th—more consistent with their ranking for the younger age group.
| Country | Overall ranking | Ranking for Under 30 age group | Ranking for 60+ age group |
| Canada | 15 | 58 | 8 |
| U.K. | 20 | 32 | 20 |
| Australia | 10 | 19 | 9 |
| U.S.A. | 23 | 62 | 10 |
Interestingly, the World Happiness Report ranked Finland number one overall. The gap between the under 30 group (7th place) and the over 60 group (2nd place) was much smaller. Perhaps we need to put our egos aside and see what we can learn from that tiny Scandinavian country.
Telling young people to work harder is not the answer
It’s clear that we have created an environment where the young feel they can’t thrive. Considering the state of our planet, high levels of student debt, housing costs that have made home ownership—and even renting—unaffordable, and an increasingly divisive political climate, is it any wonder?
Many people my age say “young people today” are entitled and not willing to work. As a mom of two hard-working young adult daughters, I disagree! I’m also fortunate enough to work with a lot of terrific young people. Why is their outlook so different?
I entered the workforce during a major recession and in an era of double-digit interest rates. Times were tough. I worked hard and often struggled to make ends meet. When I compare my life then to the lives of today’s young people, there’s a big difference. I truly believed I could work hard and make a good life for myself. There was a light at the end of the tunnel—a reward for my hard work.
Today’s young people no longer see that light. They no longer feel that hard work will get them anywhere close to the standard of living their parents took for granted. They’re not wrong.
As a simple example, the rent for my first one-bedroom apartment was $180 a month. At the time, I was earning just under $20,000 a year. If you’re lucky enough to find one, an equivalent one-bedroom apartment today costs between $1,500 and $2,000 a month. How many people in their 20s are earning between $150,000 and $200,000?
I generally try to keep a positive outlook, but this report made gave me reason to be concerned about our collective future. We need to do better and create a world where our young people can thrive!
Let’s make our votes count
It’s election year in the United States, and possibly here in Canada too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone put their self-interest aside and voted for candidates with policies that will address this growing disparity between the young and the old? Even better, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our young people used their collective voice and got involved in the political process? There are enough of them to impact the outcome of our elections.
The need for change is urgent! Because I don’t want to live in a country where the young feel they have no future.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- I enjoyed my few days in Arizona, even if I couldn’t get a Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day. My meetings went well, and I had a chance to catch up with friends and colleagues. I arrived home safely on Tuesday evening and even had an empty seat next to me on the flight home.
- Thursday evening was week 5 of the Alpha Course. Our small group had a fascinating discussion on this week’s topic—prayer.
- On Friday, I had lunch and spent the afternoon with my mum and my three sisters. By the time this post goes live, my sister Angela will be back in England. It was lovely to have some time together.
Three things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:
The cost of loneliness
Last weekend, I attended a talk by Dr. Jeremy Nobel, author of Project UnLonely. Dr. Nobel revealed some startling facts about the social and economic cost of loneliness, especially in the 18-28 age group. Read more about what I learned in my latest post for Wise & Shine.
Air quality in Canada
Ask anyone in Canada and they’ll probably tell you that 2023 was not a good year for air quality, largely thanks to the worst wildfire season in history. The 2023 World Air Quality Report confirms that, for the first time ever, Canada’s air quality was worse than our neighbour to the south, the USA.
Let’s hope for a better summer in 2024, although early signs indicate we could be in for another tough wildfire season.
The environmental promise of white paint
I’m feeling a bit like Debbie Downer today, so let’s wrap things up on a more positive note. When I need a little boost, I can always depend on the good folks at Happy Eco News to deliver.
Engineers at Purdue University have created the world’s whitest paint that reflects more than 98% of sunlight. Applying this paint to urban building rooftops could decrease the temperature of our cities by over 2°C. It could also reduce air conditioning requirements by up to 30%.
This week’s decluttering challenge – accessories
In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was accessories—jewellery, belts and scarves. I decluttered just 4 items this week. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.
If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
How interesting about white rooftops – especially given that ours (in my area) are pretty consistently black. Glad you had a good trip and are home again!
Same here, although I suppose that’s because I live in a colder climate. The article mainly spoke of buildings in downtown areas where no-one ever sees the colour of the roofs. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
Look forward to more from you! 😉
💚🤗💚
I hear you and feel the same about the ridiculous (and ever-rising) costs of living for our young adult children, Michelle. Housing, especially. Your recall of your early career and the portion of your salary needed for rent…compared to ridiculous costs today? Right there with you. It’s hard to tell young, aspirational folks to work hard — relief will come — when the basics become unattainable. ☹️
It really is frustrating, Vicki. And sadly our governments just pay lip service to the problem and refuse to back it up with policy. I’m currently doing some research into the nordic countries for tomorrow’s Wise & Shine post. They do so many things right, and it’s not rocket science!