Why is life satisfaction in Germany so low?

I always saw Germany as a flagship of European countries - a highly developed, rich country with beutiful culture and cool people. Having visited a few larger cities, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be sad living there. But the stats show otherwise. Why could that be? How is life for a typical German?

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[duke_diewalker]

Complaining is a national sport in Germany

[juanfran]

As a German I'd say that many Germans lack the capacity of enjoying the small things in life, such as sunny weather, autumn leaves, flowers blossoming in spring. When the train arrives late or at another platfirm than expected, people wait for a dish longer than expected or the service fails for another reason, it's always a major drama in Germany. We should be able to keep calmer with these tgings for our own mental health. "Solo se vive una vez"

[TheOzelot]

As a German, I personally think life satisfaction in Germany right now is so low, because of our economic, sociological and political problems. I think we Germans for the past 20 years have performed very well economically, at least until about 2016, when the German model increasingly became unsustainable due to growing protectionism and anti-globalization. But even after 2016 we were doing fine until Covid, when everything changed. Since the Ukraine war, inflation, government incompetency and the increase in international conflicts have produced a recession, while everyone was hoping we could finally start recovering from Covid and also healing our collective social wounds that came from the endless, increasingly polarized discussions about covid-based restrictions on life. All this only started to get worse in 2022 and 2023. I think we Germans are generally moved by fears of economic stagnation or downfall very much and populists take advantage of that to make things seem even worse as they already are. So I believe we have a significant portion of people that are worried about Germany becoming a third world country in the near future. Combining this with frequent and endless discussions about social issues, like gender stuff, political correctness, immigration, human rights and climate change, it is no wonder to me that Germans seem to be unhappy no matter their political affiliation, as we are all just collectively tired of arguing, but at the same time we cant really stop, because we all deeply care.

I think it has less to do with the weather being bad here, it always has been and likely always will be, but more with the current issues and a feeling of anxiety about the future with increased hopelessness.

[jdrancho]

You have to appreciate that all the non=Germans being interviewed are tri-lingual - speaking English, German and their native language.

[thomasthomasphilp]

Most Germans are happy with their close friends from Kindergarten time. As an immigrant, you have to invest lot of time. Once you become a friend, then they are your true friends. Then you can say a friend in need is a friend indeed.

[Julie]

I had a friend from Germany who was always bubbly and always smiling. Also she was outgoing and social.

[yoohoo]

Loved this!! Everyone was so well spoken and insightful.

[digitalduch]

As someone who's born in Germany and spent 36 out of 42 years of my life there, I come to the conclusion that all this unhappiness comes from the grey, rainy, moist and seemingly endless bad weather. Even in London it never rains this often and endlessly

[mizulightblue]

9:49 I live in Finland, originally from Austria. Finland is only the happiest country because they paid media to say so. Living in Finland is not happy, we have high depression rate, suicide rate, 2nd rank in domestic violence, barely a health care system, so no...

[sam-the-nomad]

I feel like from an economic perspective it is satisfying, but the way people interact with one another i.e. being a bit cold and grumpy can make people feel a bit lonely. There is often this lack of family bond and sense of community/authentic connection with others that you would definitely find in much poorer countries. The very direct and serious rule-following mentality (not to mention this slightly perfectionistic way of doing things) can sometimes be a bit debilitating to your overall emotional satisfaction. My German friend says that Germans are like the Japanese of Europe, meaning there is a bit of a pressure for everything to be done in such a perfectionistic and orderly way that it can sometimes be a bit stressful to meet all these expectations all the time and deal with people complaining about everything not being perfect. I think it's no wonder why you will go to South East Asia for example and find lots of barefoot Germans living lawlessly in the jungle living off jackfruit, who have basically no desire to return to this type of life. Little bit of an extreme the other way, but what I'm saying is that there are pros and cons to this lifestyle that comes with a fast paced mentality with the economic opportunities it presents. Germany is successful for a reason and there are for sure sacrifices to achieve that type of society.

[tj]

Very surprised with those statistics because for example in Portugal life is very difficult, very expensive, people also aren't happy, complaining is also a national sport, people work very hard and over hours without really moving forward in life. So it should be lower in that index. Probably the study methodology is just wrong.

[egsi]

Pakistani dude was super well spoken and smart, and the Russians were too funny!

[Gray-efep]

I once went to Zurich (CH but similar) for a quick shopping. I was shocked how people were tense and unhappy. The police's eyes were generally full of deep suspicion in general and not towards me. It felt like this beautiful city had just experienced a major catastrophe when this wasn't the case. I discussed this with a colleague just two days ago as he lived in CH and he fully verified it. He said London where he now lives is much happier despite worse weather. I can say the same for France but the weather is good here. But when you go east - wow - in Bali or Thailand you are in HEAVEN.

[spiderfrommars]

I'm from Hamburg, we barely smile in public while walking around alone. That doesn't mean I'm in a bad mood or unhappy, It simply doesn't feel natural running around with a (fake)smile.

[cxo]

Taxes in germany are atrocious with 40% direct taxes, then many many indirect taxes on a lot of products etc. are also cutting in hard. This definitely is dissatisfying

[heikolang]

Germans thrive for perfection. If it is not perfect it is worth complaining about. Which is some sort of national sport….

[zwiderwurzn]

30-40 years ago, life in Germany was more relaxed. Today, all anyone talks about is self-optimisation and career and money and more and more money - how can you be happy then? 🙃

[zexinli]

Keep on the good interviews! I love them and appreciate your hard work❤

[cgarcia]

I came 11 years ago as a student I can tell I cannot wait to leave this place; I do have a very good job, but I feel pretty much stagnated. extremely poor weather and people is very hard to get along with; rules for everything...Life is more than have a nice job, that is for sure.

[birgerhansen]

Munich and the Art of Complaining. I love it. Great video.