On some level, humans thrive under hardship. Social cohesion goes up, meaning and purpose comes easy. People who lose their job become less happy, and do not recover until they get a job again. Bill Gates wakes up and goes to his job, not because he needs money but because he needs to matter.
This worries me about AI and automation, universal basic income is needed, but doesn't solve people's need for having a purpose.
This is just scratching the surface. Why do people that lose their job become less happy?
I think it's much more likely a combination of stigmatization, uncertain access to basic needs, and social isolation (friends and family are probably working after all). That the job itself is the sole, or even the main, purpose provider doesn't seem to hold up imo. I think that furthering the skin deep idea of job = purpose isn't helpful in societies obsessed with work.
"It always works out" seems to be enough for many people (typically, those for whom it has worked out), but for those who know that, actually, no, it doesn't "always work out", an actually plausible reason is often required. And for others, even that isn't enough.
This seems a bit coarse. Working hard to move from the lower class to solidly middle class is not guaranteed, so the pursuit of that is based on both hope and knowledge. However, if the statistical likelihood of this move begins decreasing, and simultaneously the rates of people moving in the opposite direction is also rising, one could argue that a natural response would be for "hope" levels to decrease.
My life is amazing. If it gets really horrible, I think I can handle it because I see so many examples of other people handling it. I saw some comments of people's attempts on the web to follow super-cheap diets as an experiment. Other people wrote comments about how those people were wasting money by buying organic eggs, not buying and pre-soaking beans instead of buying canned beans, etc. Yeah, if necessary, I think I can do that. I lived a whole summer on instant noodles once. I think I can do it again.
OK, move to the next level. I see people making less than $1000 USD per month in China and still able to raise a kid. They eat rice and veggies every day, living costs can be low if you want them to be. Yeah, I think I can do that. My wife prefers to be mostly vegetarian, so I'm halfway there. Most dinners, we literally only eat some leafy greens and cabbage, and maybe some rice.
OK, move to the next level, I volunteered in villages where living standards are super low. Sanitation can suck. But they make it work. If they can do it, why can't I? I've done it for a short-term period before. Can I do it for a long-term period? If I'm forced to, why not?
OK, move to the next level. War, genocide, torture, the works. Many people don't survive that stuff. Some do. How the heck do I look at what they go through and think that my life sucks and there's no hope for the future? I am endowed with a great education, a job that pays my bills, and self-confidence that I can make it in any situation and any environment, no matter how bad it gets.
So two things here. First, everything is a matter of perspective. I don't know why people think I'm an idiot for thinking my life would be great even if I was forced to take a crap in a hole in the dirt where there's no plumbing. If they can do it and still be able to laugh and be happy, why can't I?
Second, I think the environment thing is huge. I can understand why people who are stuck in certain environments can never get the mindset necessary to escape it. Inner city gang problems, extreme poverty, etc, etc. There is some systemic crap in society that really stops people from realizing their potential and getting the confidence to even step outside their comfort zone. I don't know the answer to that, and smarter minds than me have tried to figure it out.
Loneliness is a thing too. How the heck did we get from the place where it's great to know your neighbours to neighbours don't want to know each other, as others are commenting? Why is it so hard for people to make friends, mate, etc? I get there are hard issues in our society that people haven't been able to figure out.
BUT... I've always thought to myself, "eh, could be worse" and I've always joked with other people, "hey, I'm still alive!" And people think I'm an idiot for considering that I'd be OK taking a crap in a hole in the dirt with no plumbing. In the meantime, I get really annoyed when people talk about their first world problems. Yes, I can be hypocritical about this too, of course. I have my own first world problems like wishing I could find a job I enjoy more. Life goes on.
A lot of other people are poor. I promise.
There are EU citizens in their mid-twenties born during the war.
If (and that's a giant "if" considering its fragile state of the moment) Serbia becomes the next EU member (optimistic estimate is 2025), the most recent conflict will shift to late 90s, and you will again have people in their mid-twenties born during the conflict.
That's really not that long.
Then an interesting tidbit would be if people are struggling mentally as much as they do in north EU or US?
I believe what OP is referring to is that people think in relatives such that they compare how their life is to others/the past. With no bad wars in most countries recently to compare against horrific times, everyone is comparing themselves to everyone else's life hence making them unhappy despite the good times we actually are having nowadays. This also somewhat aligns with the many studies showing some of the downsides of social media.