The Structure of Happiness across Age: A Method-Mix Approach with Focus on Japan’s “Happy Youth“

Subjective wellbeing among 20-29-year-old Japanese has increased since the 1970s and by the turn of the century has outstripped that of those in their thirties, forties or fifties. While unimaginable by older generations, it seems that young Japanese – despite a bleak future outlook (e.g. in terms of employment or the financial burden of a super-ageing society) – feel satisfied with their lives. This result caused a stir in Japanese academic and public discourse alike. It indicates that what the young generation considers important for their wellbeing might differ from older generations.

In this paper, we test how and to what extent what we call the “structure of happiness”, measured in terms of satisfaction with and importance of different life domains (such as health, finance, family, friends etc.), varies across age. We look at (1) which aspects of their lives young Japanese are satisfied or dissatisfied with (as compared to other generations), and (2) which of these aspects they think of as important when considering their happiness. We use data from the National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences from 2010, and from the SSP2015 survey for analysis. Additionally, we analyse data from 55 qualitative interviews with young Japanese in their twenties, to add further substance to our quantitative results.

Our results imply that what is individually evaluated as “overall happiness” needs to be thought of as complex interplay of different topicalities that are weighted and judged against each other in course of the evaluation. In the specific case of the Japanese youth, their distinctively different idea of happiness points to an impact of their generational location – growing up in a period of economic stagnation – which distinguishes them from previous generations, who were used to continuous economic growth and social upgrading.