The World Happiness Report reveals what many of us probably already knew about the condition of our nation: people are unhappy, disillusioned, and disappointed. This report might be the most hopeful news for our nation in recent memory, especially when we think about the prominence of Gen Z in this report. The prodigal son “came to his senses” and returned to his father when he sat alone in his misery. Perhaps the Lord will use our national mood to direct our attention to the truth of His Word and spark revival anew.

It’s that time of year again, when the World Happiness Report releases its findings on the happiest countries on the planet. From 2023 to 2024, the United States plunged from 15th to 23rd, hitting an all-time low in average happiness ranking. When two time periods are viewed side by side – 2006 to 2010 and 2021-2023 – the U.S. has had the 15^th-sharpest decline in overall happiness of the 134 countries surveyed. Of western nations, only Canada fared worse (14th highest decline). What has led to such a steep reduction in people’s overall happiness in the U.S.?

Gallup, one of the key research firms collaborating on the World Happiness Report, explained the falling happiness rates result from “Americans under 30 feeling worse about their lives.” Specifically, Americans under 30 feel less supported by friends and family, less free to make their own life choices, more stressed about their living conditions, less confident in the government, and more concerned about political corruption. By contrast, the report found that older Americans are happier than their younger counterparts.

Americans under 30 are those within Gen Z. This is the generation that has grown up with smart phones and social media, and that often communicates with friends through digital means – sometimes even within the same physical space.

Americans between 18-29 years old have the lowest religious involvement of any adult age group in America, with only 27% attending religious services at least once per week (by contrast, 38% of Americans 50-64 years old and 48% of Americans over 65 years old attend religious services at least weekly). Gen Z is unquestionably the least religious generation in American history.

Politically, a plurality of Gen Z claim they are independents or unaffiliated (38%), while 35% belong to the Democratic Party and 26% belong to the Republican Party. However, party identification is not necessarily a clear indicator of what matters to Gen Z. Surveys show that adults under 30 strongly support abortion, homosexuality and transgenderism, and policies that enlarge the government.

When the religious and political views of Gen Z are set alongside the findings from the World Happiness Report, are there any reasons for Christians to be encouraged? I believe there are. For example, one of the key reasons why Gen Z feels unhappy is because they do not feel supported by family and friends. Yet it is precisely because of their views on family and friendship that misery has followed. The biblical definition of a family is a father, a mother, and (if the Lord wills) children sharing life together as a unit. Through the media’s relentless quest to cast the family into a more “modern” mold, the family itself has been dismantled and destroyed. Acceptance of sexually deviant practices, such as homosexuality and transgenderism, eliminate the reality of the family.

Certainly, people can – and do – attempt to re-define the family on their own terms. But re-defining something God ordained does not make that redefinition correspond with reality. Eventually, the proverbial chickens will come home to roost. Reality wins every time.

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