---
title: Young Adults Now Flourish Least, and Purpose Can Help
description: A 22-country study finds flourishing stays flat until 50. Purpose protects young adults from depression and builds wealth. Here is how you help.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-10-27T10:31:08.040Z
updated: 2026-10-27T10:31:13.043Z
canonical: https://richmommagazine.com/article/young-adults-feel-lost-purpose
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-31442402.webp
categories: Fatherhood, Work & Purpose
content_type: Feature
region: Global
publication: Rich Dad Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

If your son or daughter is in their twenties, you may have heard it in their voice: a good job, a full diary, and still [a feeling of being lost](https://richdadmagazine.com/article/the-early-midlife-crises-a-growing-concern-on-mental-health-038-lifestyle-shifts), with no clear sense of what it is all for. You are not imagining it. For the first time in decades of research, young adults in many countries report lower wellbeing than any other age group.

## The old happiness curve has broken

For most of the last half-century, wellbeing followed a [familiar U-shape](https://richdadmagazine.com/article/how-to-feel-happier-in-your-forties-than-in-your-twenties). It started high in youth, dipped in midlife and rose again in later years. That pattern has broken.

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