Hong Kong’s happiness index slips as survey identifies ‘lost’ millennials as unhappiest age group

Hong Kong’s overall happiness has slipped this year, with the city’s millennials standing out as its unhappiest age group, a new survey has found.

The General Happiness Index 2026, released by non-profit Wofoo Social Enterprises on Tuesday, found that Hong Kong’s index dipped to 5.87 out of 10, down 0.08 points from last year.

The survey of 1,039 adults also found that people born between 1980 and 1995, commonly known as millennials or Generation Y, reported lower happiness scores than other cohorts.

The sandwich generation ‘myth’

The findings revealed that over half of the city’s 30-to-45-year-olds are unmarried, and close to two-thirds are neither parents nor carers.

Wofoo researchers say this “dispels the traditional myth” of the sandwich generation – the idea that Generation Y are pinned down by the pressures of being dual caregivers both for their children and elderly parents.

Despite no significant differences in economic status, single millennials reported significantly lower happiness and life satisfaction scores than their married and parenting counterparts.

This shows that unmarried millennials “are grappling with deeper challenges,” the researchers said in a Chinese-language press release: “Beyond anxieties about the current economic and social climate, they are mired in a sense of aimlessness.”

Failing grade

Hong Kong’s population-wide score has remained below the “passing level” of 6.0 out of 10 since 2023, with over 40 per cent of respondents this year reporting moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

“This reflects how mental health pressures among residents remain severe and urgently require attention and support from all sectors of society,” the NGO said.

Among the external factors considered, Hong Kong’s “economic situation” and “government administration” received the lowest grades in the survey.

See also: Hong Kong sinks in World Happiness Report index to lowest-ever position

Respondents also said they felt less satisfied this year with the city’s education, media, public healthcare, political and social climate, and trust in the government.

While Generation Y scored lower on the index, Hong Kong’s baby boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – returned the highest happiness grade on the index, at 6.78.

Wofoo Social Enterprises, a charity founded in 1997, has been conducting annual surveys on Hongkongers’ happiness since 2015.

The city recorded a General Happiness Index of 6.54 in 2018, but this dropped to 6.15 in 2019 amid large-scale political upheaval.

While the index rose to 6.44 in 2021 and stayed above six in 2022 and 2023, it has sunk below six over the past four years as the city has seen a sluggish business environment and a wave of shop closures in the post-pandemic years.

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Irene Chan is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press and has an interest in covering political and social change. She previously worked at Initium Media as chief editor for Hong Kong news and was a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation serving the underprivileged. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Fudan University and a master’s degree in social work from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Irene is the recipient of two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and three honourable mentions for her investigative, feature and video reporting. She also received a Human Rights Press Award for multimedia reporting and an honourable mention for feature writing.