Americans Are Unhappiest They've Been Since 1972, Poll Finds

Only 14 percent of Americans say they are very happy with their lives, according to a new nationwide tracking survey which found U.S. adults are the unhappiest they've been since 1972.

About one-third of Americans in 2018 said they were very happy in response to the same poll questions, but over the past two years, that number has been cut in half. The latest General Social Survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago drew on a half-century of data, including people's responses to the coronavirus pandemic this year. The fewest amount of Americans reported being happy since polling began in 1972, and the 2020 survey reflects the first time that fewer than 29 percent of U.S. adults identified as very happy.

Roughly half of the 2,279 American adults who responded to the poll said they often or sometimes feel isolated from other people, more than twice the amount from 2018. Poll organizers noted that much of the data collection was done prior to the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, which has sparked nationwide protests.

Compared with 2018, Americans are twice as likely to say they feel a lack of companionship with other people. And not surprisingly amid the COVID-19 social distancing lockdown precautions, about twice as many people reported feeling "left out" over the past month. But a majority of those surveyed, 54 percent, rated their own overall mental health as either excellent, very good or just good.

In terms of physical health, 40 percent of Americans rated themselves as in "good" standing, compared with just 8 percent who said "excellent."

Americans are less optimistic now about the country's standard of living and the future of the economy than they have been in the past quarter century. Just 42 percent of U.S. adults said they believe their children will have a better standard of living when they reach their age—a 15 percent decrease from two years ago. About 25 percent said their children's financial future will be "about the same" as their current standing.

"It isn't as high as it could be," said NORC senior research scientist Louise Hawkley, in an interview with the Associated Press. "People have figured out a way to connect with others. It's not satisfactory, but people are managing to some extent."

Almost a majority of Americans surveyed said their financial situation has "stayed the same" over the past few years, while 37 percent said it has gotten better. Only 18 percent of Americans said their financial situation has gotten "worse." A near majority, 44 percent, also said they are "more or less satisfied" with their family's present financial situation.

Tom W. Smith, PI of NORC's COVID-19 study, responded to Newsweek via email Tuesday on whether some of the self-analysis answers were potentially skewed higher: "Subjective self-ratings of overall and physical health correlate with objective health status (e.g. having chronic diagnosed health problems) and even predictive of early mortality among those with low self-ratings. The self-rating measures we employed were developed by the NIH."