1.0Probably Overthinking Ithttps://www.allendowney.com/blogAllenDowneyhttps://www.allendowney.com/blog/author/allendowney_6dbrc4/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="EvgIfShQwp"><a href="https://www.allendowney.com/blog/2026/03/19/young-adults-are-not-very-happy/">Young Adults Are Not Very Happy</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.allendowney.com/blog/2026/03/19/young-adults-are-not-very-happy/embed/#?secret=EvgIfShQwp" width="600" height="338" title="“Young Adults Are Not Very Happy” — Probably Overthinking It" data-secret="EvgIfShQwp" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://www.allendowney.com/blog/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> Since 1972, the General Social Survey has asked respondents: “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days—would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?” The following figure shows how the responses have changed over time and between birth cohorts. Each line represents one birth year. People born in 1900 were 72 years old when the survey started; at that point, about 37% said they were very happy. In 1990, the last... Read More Read Morehttps://www.allendowney.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cohort_trajectory_ha-ee8d3c24ba4d6e9d119c114dfd0b23c3.png1330778