By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-04-02 21:34:51 | Updated at 2025-04-04 16:54:29
1 day ago
CV NEWS FEED // The percentage of young women aged 18-29 who rate their mental health as “excellent” dropped from 29% to just 15% between 2020 and 2024, data from Gallup show.
According to the global analytics firm’s report, the 2024 “excellent” mental health rating among young women is 19 points lower than the percentage measured between 2015 and 2019 and 33 points lower than the record high, which spanned 2010 to 2014. The age group, overall, has been suffering compared with other age groups, but the findings regarding women’s experiences are particularly low.
“This well exceeds the 20-point decline for men aged 18-29 during the same time frame, falling from 53% in 2010-2014 to 33% in 2020-2024,” Gallup reported. “Most of this decline has occurred in the latest period, since 2015-2019.”
Women aged 30-49 also reported declining mental health, but in fewer numbers compared with the younger demographic. Between 2010 and 2024, the percentage of this age group who rated their mental health as excellent decreased by 18 percentage points. Women aged 50 and older saw just a seven-point decline over the same timeframe.
Gallup noted that much of the decline across demographics occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the following years. Overall, the percentage of Americans reporting excellent mental health fell to a record low of 31% in 2022. In 2023, excellent physical health hit a record low at 24%. The percentages stayed the same in 2024. Gallup noted that obesity increased and healthy eating decreased between 2019 and 2023.
Among young Americans, women are consistently less likely than men to rate their physical health as “excellent,” hovering around 32% between 2010 and 2024. While almost half of young men rated their physical health as excellent in the 2010s, the percentage has steadily dropped since 2010, accelerating during the pandemic.
Gallup conducted additional analyses of data from other subgroups as well. Protestants and Catholics have become more likely than those with no religious affiliation to rate their mental health as excellent, a change that developed between 2020 and 2024. Gallup also found that Republicans are “consistently” more likely compared with independents or Democrats to report excellent mental health, though each group has experienced rate declines since 2010.
