There is a version of a lament, a cliché really, on almost every person’s lips as they age: “Oh, to be young again,” they say, chiding those who are younger, because “youth is wasted on the young”. This reflects the common-sense understanding that age is inversely proportional to happiness — as cares and responsibilities mount, as death draws ever closer, joy diminishes. Aristotle disagreed with this common sense. He thought that eudaimonia, a good life, was a function of, among other things, wealth and virtue — things that take a while to acquire. The latest World Happiness Report is closer to Aristotle’s conception.
Countries in the West — the US, UK, Australia, among others — have seen a sharp increase in weariness and despair among young people. Economic uncertainty, social media and the sense of gloom exacerbated by it are some of the likely reasons for this. In much of the rest of the world, however, the trend is the opposite — young people are, by and large, happier. While the happiest countries — Finland, Denmark and Iceland — are wealthy nations with strong welfare states, the unhappiest are, unsurprisingly, conflict-ridden Afghanistan and Lebanon. India, at 126 out of 143 countries, does not fare too much better. And, as in so many things, it is the exception that proves the rule.
Unlike most other lower middle income and middle income countries, especially those with a large young population, the old in India are happier. Among the elderly, it is upper-caste men with higher education qualifications who feel the happiest, most optimistic and included. The data shows what people in India have long known — that caste, gender and class determine social well-being and a psychological sense of security. But the fact that well-being is lower among the young could also illustrate a lack of confidence in the future. Perhaps now, the uncles and aunts will be happy they aren’t young today. And Gen Z will say, “oh to be young when you were”.
