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Illbeing Among the Young in Europe: Evidence from the COME HERE Panel

Author

Listed:
  • David G. Blanchflower
  • Alex Bryson
  • Anthony Lepinteur
  • Alan Piper

Abstract

A substantial literature finds poor mental health is hump-shaped with respect to age, whilst subjective wellbeing is U-shaped. Recent cross-sectional studies indicate a change in this relationship driven by the declining mental health of the young. We contribute to this literature by re-examining the age patterns in subjective wellbeing and illbeing for individuals in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden). We do so with fifteen waves of the COME-HERE (CH) panel survey for 2020-2025 plus data from the Global Minds (GM) surveys of 2020-2026 for the same countries. We show that wellbeing rises and illbeing declines in a roughly monotonic fashion with age. This is found both with cross-section data from the CH and GM data, and from longitudinal plots of person fixed effects by age in the CH data.

Suggested Citation

  • David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson & Anthony Lepinteur & Alan Piper, 2026. "Illbeing Among the Young in Europe: Evidence from the COME HERE Panel," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 26200, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:26200
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean Twenge & David G. Blanchflower, 2025. "Declining Life Satisfaction and Happiness Among Young Adults in Six English-speaking Countries," NBER Working Papers 33490, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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