美国幸福指数首次跌出全球前20名 枪支暴力、代际贫富差距是主因

据美国全国广播公司新闻网（NBC News）报道，联合国3月20日发布的《2024年度全球幸福指数报告》显示，受枪支暴力、代际贫富差距、政治两极分化等因素影响，美国儿童和年轻人越来越不快乐，导致美国的幸福指数排名下滑。

Happiness is a relative concept, but an annual index that tracks it in countries around the world has found that the United States and some Western European countries are falling in overall well-being because younger people are feeling less and less happy.

幸福是一个相对概念，但是一项年度全球幸福指数报告显示，美国和一些西欧国家的整体幸福指数排名在下滑，因为年轻人越来越不快乐。

The US, in particular, dropped out of the top 20 for the first time, falling to 23rd place from 15th last year, driven by a large drop in the well-being of Americans under 30. The age disparity is stark: The US ranks in the top 10 for those over 60, but for those under 30, it ranks 62nd, pulling down the overall score.

由于美国30岁以下年轻人幸福指数大幅下降，美国首次跌出全球前20名，从去年的第15名降至今年的第23名。美国60岁以上人群幸福指数排在全球前十，而30岁以下人群排在全球第62名，差距极大，进而拉低了整体排名。

The findings were announced Wednesday to mark the United Nations’ International Day of Happiness, It’s based on data collected by the research company Gallup and analysis by academics led by the University of Oxford in the UK.

3月20日发布的这一报告是为了纪念联合国设立的国际幸福日。该报告基于调研公司盖洛普收集的数据和英国牛津大学学者的分析。

For the first time this year, the report gave separate rankings by age group. The report found that Lithuania topped the list for people under 30, while Denmark is the world’s happiest country for those aged 60 and older.

今年是该报告首次按不同年龄组分别进行幸福感排名。报告发现，立陶宛30岁以下人群的幸福感全球第一，丹麦60岁以上人群的幸福指数则高居榜首。

"We had picked up in recent years from scattered sources of data that child and youth well-being, particularly so in the United States, had seen a drop,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics and behavioral science at Oxford, who is one of the editors of the report. “That has pushed us for the first time to really slice and dice the data by these age categories, which we normally don’t do.”

报告编纂者之一、牛津大学经济学和行为科学系教授让-伊曼纽尔·德·尼夫表示：“从近年来收集的数据发现，世界各国尤其是美国的儿童和年轻人幸福感一直在下降。这促使我们首次按不同年龄组来对幸福感数据进行交叉分析，这是我们往常没做过的。”

Well-being for people under 30 in the US ranks below the Dominican Republic, and is in line with countries such as Malaysia and Russia. Canada’s unhappy youth rank 58, four spots above the US.

报告显示，美国30岁以下人群的幸福指数排在多米尼加共和国之后，与马来西亚和俄罗斯等国持平。加拿大年轻人幸福指数排在第58名，比美国高4位。

When it comes to the tanking youth happiness in the US, De Neve said there is not a single smoking gun, but it is likely due to a combination of many factors ranging from political polarization to overuse of social media to uncertainty about the future and growing economic inequality between generations, with people under 30 struggling to get onto the real estate ladder.

德·尼夫指出，美国儿童和年轻人幸福感低，除了枪支暴力之外，还受到多个因素的影响，包括政治两极分化、过度使用社交媒体、对未来感到迷茫、代际贫富差距越来越大、年轻人买不起房。

Meanwhile, the report also found that in countries of central and Eastern Europe, younger people are much happier than the old. But these countries have also seen the largest increases in happiness, for all ages.

与此同时，报告也发现，在中欧和东欧国家，年轻人比老年人的幸福感高得多。这些国家各个年龄段的幸福指数也是上升幅度最大的。

This year, Finland remained on top of the list, and was followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. The lowest happiness scores were registered in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

今年芬兰依然高居幸福指数榜首，紧随其后的是丹麦、冰岛和瑞典。幸福指数最低的是饱经战乱的阿富汗。

The consistently high performance of Scandinavian nations is likely down to “a high sense of contentment” and high levels of trust in the society, De Neve said.

德·尼夫称，北欧国家常年幸福指数名列前茅的原因应该是民众的“高度满足感”和社会内部的“高度信任感”。