Young New Zealanders, Aussies, and North Americans are less happy than 15 years ago, despite increased happiness in under 25s across most of the world, according to The World Happiness Report 2026. The timing of this drop correlates with increased social media use; however, other countries don’t follow this pattern, and Latin American countries have both higher social media use and relatively high levels of youth happiness. While noting that social media’s effects on wellbeing are complex and may vary with the types of social platforms involved, the report concludes that heavy use may play a role in the decreased happiness of under 25s in English-speaking countries, especially for girls.