Young people in Norway are no longer the least satisfied with life – a shift from recent trends
A happiness researcher emphasises the importance of supporting good mental health and quality of life in this group.
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Young adults in Norway, aged 18 to 24, are more satisfied with life than they have been in the past four years.
This finding comes from the 2024 Quality of Life Survey conducted by Statistics Norway (SSB).
The results reflect this year's Youth Data survey, which indicated that adolescents are also doing better.
Who has the lowest quality of life?
Among the rest of the population, satisfaction levels have remained relatively stable.
But now, a new pattern has emerged.
People between the ages of 25 and 44 have now taken the last place.
These young to middle-aged adults report the lowest level of satisfaction when asked how satisfied they are with life.
On average, this group reports a score of 6.5 on a scale from 0 to 10.
Many years left in the workforce
"One survey may not capture the whole picture, but this breaks with the trend we’ve seen in recent years," says Ragnhild Bang Nes.
She is a happiness researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
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For several years, even before the pandemic, Norwegians' quality of life has tended to increase with age.
In other words: the older people get, the happier they tend to be.
However, young adults with many years left in the workforce have not yet returned to the happiness levels seen at the start of the pandemic.
29 per cent are dissatisfied with their lives
"Those between 25 and 44 are an important group to keep mentally healthy and engaged, with a high quality of life," says Nes.
This is the stage of life where people typically establish themselves in their careers and start families.
The recent survey also shows that 29 per cent of this age group are dissatisfied with their lives.
"These are simply weak numbers," says Nes.
Single parents and queer individuals have low quality of life
Meanwhile, many others, even those in midlife, are doing well.
Yet, these figures reveal substantial differences among social groups.
People outside the workforce, single parents, and queer individuals rank among those with the lowest average quality of life.
People aged 67 to 79 are the happiest
The new data also confirms that the oldest age groups remain the happiest, particularly those between 67 and 79.
"Although we see a positive trend in the quality of life among young people aged 18-24, younger individuals are still generally less satisfied with life and various life domains than the older age groups in the population," Kristina Støren, an adviser at the Statistics Norway, says in a press release (link in Norwegian).
Differences between various surveys
At the same time, Statistics Norway's Quality of Life Surveys differ from other happiness surveys.
Their figures have tended to be slightly lower than both the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's regional surveys and the international World Happiness Report, according to Nes.
This may be due to factors like survey timing and response weighting, explains the happiness researcher from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Statistics Norway considers that not everyone answers the questions.
Those who skip the survey often have lower scores, so this weighting may make the results more accurate.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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