Young People's Happiness

Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:08 PM ET

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - Young people in developing nations are at least twice as likely to feel happy about their lives
than their richer counterparts, a survey says.
Indians are the happiest overall and Japanese the most miserable.
According to an MTV Networks International (MTVNI) global survey that covered more than 5,400 young people in 14
countries, only 43 percent of the world's 16- to 34-year-olds say they are happy with their lives.
MTVNI said this figure was dragged down by young people in the developed world, including those in the United States
and Britain where fewer than 30 percent of young people said they were happy with the way things were.
Only eight percent in Japan said they were happy.

"The happier young people of the developing world are also the most religious," the survey said.