> As discussed in previous posts and as Twenge et al. (2022) showed, it can’t be the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The timing of that event is exactly the oppos

> As discussed in previous posts and as Twenge et al. (2022) showed, it can’t be the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The timing of that event is exactly the opposite of what you’d expect, namely: the epidemic should have started in 2009 and then gotten progressively better after 2012 as the economy improved in the USA and other countries. The economies might have gotten better, but middle and lower classes have less and less opportunities to benefit from that. Lack of money while growing up will make children unhappy if this leads to social exclusion and deprivation. Also kids are aware of the climate crisis since around then. Smartphones and social media might act as an amplifier, but such major shifts are usually multicausal.