Rising Young Worker Despair in the United States
9 months ago
- #mental health
- #young workers
- #labor market
- The relationship between mental despair and age in the U.S. has shifted from a hump-shaped curve (peaking in middle age) to a monotonic decline with age, driven by rising despair among young people.
- The age-despair relationship varies by labor market status: the hump-shape persists for those unable to work or unemployed, while it remains flat for homemakers, students, and retirees.
- Young workers are experiencing a significant rise in mental despair, making the downward slope of despair with age more pronounced among workers.
- Data supporting these trends comes from multiple sources, including the BRFSS (1993-2023), NSDUH (2008-2023), Pew, the Conference Board, and Johns Hopkins University surveys.