Caring is sharing — it’s an adage the World Happiness Report has put to the test in its latest research. Focusing on how caring benefits both the recipient and the giver, the organization discovered the way people treat one another has a profound effect on overall well-being.
So for anyone looking to live their best life this year, these global well-being experts have a blueprint worth learning more about.
What is the World Happiness Report?
The World Happiness Report — published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network — issued its first findings in 2012. The “Defining a New Economic Paradigm” report detailed the “historic event” hosted at the United Nations’ headquarters April 2, 2012, where hundreds of participants gathered to discuss the “goal of human happiness and the well-being of all life on Earth.”
Since then, the World Happiness Report has released annual findings on global happiness, each exploring unique facets of well-being ranging from age to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the organization decided to focus on caring and how it can be a key part in cultivating both societal and individual happiness.
So here are four expert-approved ways people can live their best lives in 2025 — and maybe improve the world in the process.
Breaking bread has its benefits
Looking at 2022 and 2023 Gallup poll data across 142 countries, World Happiness Report researchers discovered that sharing meals can have an incredible effect on happiness.
“Sharing meals proves to be an exceptionally strong indicator of subjective well-being — on par with income and unemployment,” according to the report. “Those who share more meals with others report significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect, and lower levels of negative affect. This is true across ages, genders, countries, cultures, and regions.”
It’s a tough realization, because the researchers said U.S. eaters are spending more and more of their meals alone these days. In 2023, around 25% of Americans reported eating all their meals alone within the past 24 hours. It was a statistic that soared 53% over the past two decades.
Household bonds make a difference
When it comes to living with other people, there might be a magic number: four. According to the report, households of four people are predicted to be the most happy. Why? People living alone often experience lower levels of relationship satisfaction, while larger households are often linked to diminished economic satisfaction.
“Happiness is nurtured in relational spaces and the family is at the heart of these connections,” the report explained. “Caring and sharing are practices that inherently rely on the presence of and interaction with others, beginning with family members.
“The family is where people first learn to care for and share with others, creating the foundation for broader social interactions and for well-being. The family works as a reference for how people interact with others in their life. Families are associated with close, warm, and genuine relationships that last for long stretches in people’s journey in life.”
Social connections can be effective for young adults
Familial connections inside the household can be happiness boosters, but social connections outside the home are also important. This is particularly true for young adults.
In 2023, the researchers said nearly a fifth of young adults worldwide reported having no one to count on for social support in their lives. That was a 39% increase since 2006. In the U.S., it’s an especially troubling problem.
“Young adults across the globe face increasing mental health challenges,” according to the report. “Once considered one of the happiest phases of life, young adulthood has taken a troubling turn. Young people in North America and Western Europe now report the lowest well-being among all age groups. In fact, World Happiness Report 2024 found that the fall in the United States’ happiness ranking was largely due to a precipitous decline in well-being among Americans under 30.”
A major reason social connection improves happiness among young adults is its ability to dilute the toxic effects of stress. It also paves the way for growth.
“Historically, young adulthood has been one of the most social periods of life, as young adults tend to form more friendships and spend more time socialising than people in other age groups,” the researchers said. “In addition to fulfilling social needs, young adult relationships lay the foundation for psychological and social growth in later life stages, providing a network of support that can sustain well-being and resilience in years to come.”
Social support: the tide that raises all
For every 10% increase in the share of people who participate in prosocial behavior — volunteering, donating or otherwise helping others — around one less person per population of 100,000 will die of despair. That’s around 3,410 preventable deaths per year in the United States alone, according to the report.
Deaths from despair are caused by suicide, alcohol use and drug overdose — a cause of death the report calls “akin to extreme unhappiness.” Being supportive of others, however, also comes with personal benefits. It’s a gift that can give over and over again.
“People who engage in prosocial behaviour are healthier and happier, and they experience a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life as well as improved psychological flourishing,” the researchers wrote. “Each of these aspects should reduce the risk of deaths of despair. Prosocial behaviour also strengthens and expands individuals’ social networks, thereby increasing access to social support and information, which improves coping strategies that mitigate stress perception and physiological responses.”
People who participate in prosocial behavior were also found to have higher self-esteem, leading to greater protection against challenges later in life.
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