Why America is deeply, uniformly unhappy
US happiness fell 10-15 points across every age, income, and ideology group after 2020. Consumer sentiment hit a 70-year low.
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Why America is deeply, uniformly unhappy Ellsworth Toohey 10:34 am Tue Apr 28, 2026 Krakenimages.com/shutterstock.com The happiness crash that started in 2020 didn't spare any particular group. University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman analyzed self-reported happiness data and found the decline cut 10 to 15 percentage points across every demographic he examined — every age group, every income level, every ideology, every gender. Rich and poor fell equally, according to Derek Thompson at derekthompson.org. Peltzman's 2026 paper uses the phrase "regime change in national sentiment" for what happened after COVID, adding that the U.S. "was a reasonably happy country for a long time.
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