A 'supply crisis' of fun in America contributes to decline in happiness
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Why is happiness declining in the United States?
It's time now for our daily tech and business report. Happiness in the United States has been on the decline for more than a decade. Oh, how disappointing. But how come? Max Chafkin, co-host of Bloomberg's Everybody's Business podcast, is joining us to break it down. Okay, Max, this is such disappointing news, but why are people not feeling happy? And does it have anything to do with the fact that we're all buried in our phone?
So, you know, I don't think anyone has a definitive answer. And I do think that phones are a big part of it. When you look at the the decline in well-being and you you sort of map it against, you know, rising rates in screen time, you definitely see an association. But the thing that we got into on this week's podcast is this other factor, which, you know, part of phone use is isolation. It's not being able to find
How does increased screen time and phone use affect well‑being?
Opportunities to socialize, right? Maybe, maybe you're you're you're going into your phone because you can't afford to go to the movies now, or you can't find, you know, or a night out costs more, or the restaurants cost more. A lot of these kind of in-person activities over that period have gotten much more expensive, and there's just less of them. So you look at, for instance, number of movie theaters, number of bars and restaurants. restaurants, um number of bowling alleys, uh number of golf courses. Even even as golf has become more popular uh over over that over that period, uh there are way through golf courses. And what's happened is all of this stuff has just gotten pricier and pricier and pricier.
And then you have people, you know, kind of retreating into their phones. So so obviously technology plays a role, but it's it's not the only part of it. It's it It also has to do with a supply. There is a dearth there's a supply crisis in terms of fun in this country.
What role do rising costs of movies, bars, and other outings play in the happiness drop?
Max, I get the sense that a lot of us today are drinking less. Even young people are sort of moving towards uh being more health conscious, l drinking less alcohol. Do you feel like there's a shortage of things to do that are fun that don't involve going to a bar or a club?
Now that's definitely something some part of this, which is that a lot of these some of these some of the some of the some of the the s the shifts that I just mentioned are cultural shifts, right? People people young people, as you said, aren't drinking as much. No, I I will say drinking overall in this country, it hasn't declined all that much. It's declined for younger folks. And I think you you might you could make an argument that cannabis legalization in in many jurisdictions played a role there. But but overall people are still drinking a ton in this country. They're just drinking alone more. Which so so it's not necessarily about drinking as much as maybe maybe in the old days you were going out and drinking at a club or drinking at a bar, and and nowadays you're you know drinking while watching Netflix or something like that.
Is there a ‘supply crisis’ of fun activities in America?
And you can sort of see why why one of those things might lead to more lasting connections, friendships, and so on. And and why the other might be more isolating.
Am I responsible for my fun and you're responsible for your fun? Or do you think policymakers have a role here in lifting people's spirits?
I mean, one thing that's come up, there's a very interesting lawsuit going on right now with Lucky Strike, which is the company that operates a big chain of bowling alleys. You know, bowling has been on the decline. There are fewer bowling alleys, and and and Lucky Strike, which is this private equity backed company, has gotten and and bought them and changed them in a lot of ways, raising the prices, adding arcades, doing all this stuff. And and I think, you know, in some ways it's good. Like I've I go to these I'm a parent, I go to these bowling alleys, you end up spending a lot of money, but maybe you don't get out as much. And so I think there are questions about regulation of mergers and private equity.
Like though those are places where it could come up.
How are changing drinking habits and solo entertainment influencing social connection?
There's also the question of sort of land use.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why is happiness declining in the United States?
0:00–0:48
2
How does increased screen time and phone use affect well‑being?
0:48–1:45
3
What role do rising costs of movies, bars, and other outings play in the happiness drop?
1:45–2:44
4
Is there a ‘supply crisis’ of fun activities in America?
2:44–3:40
5
How are changing drinking habits and solo entertainment influencing social connection?
3:40–4:21
6
What outdoor or low‑cost activities can restore fun and improve happiness?
4:21–5:07
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from KCBS Bloomberg Tech and Business Report
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