UCL Sociology Network (@uclsociology.bsky.social)

The emergence of a North–South divide in the age-profile of Europeans’ life satisfaction The traditional U-shape in wellbeing, with people’s life satisfaction lowest in their late 40s or early 50s, appeared to have been replaced around 2013-15 by wellbeing rising with age, driven by a collapse in the wellbeing of the young. This column uses survey data from 21 European countries to show while that the U-shape has indeed disappeared, by 2020–2024 it was replaced by life satisfaction rising with age in Northern European countries but falling with age in Southern Europe where the young have been getting more satisfied with life, possibly due to improvements in the youth labour market. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/emergence-north-south-divide-age-profile-europeans-life-satisfaction