US quality of life slips to 32nd globally: Study

• A new Social Progress Index ranks the United States 32nd worldwide, behind several European and Asian peers.
• Commentators warn of a long-term decline across health, safety, education, and well-being despite economic growth.

A study published based on the Social Progress Index ranks the United States 32nd out of 171 countries in overall quality of life, trailing Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus.

Columnist Nicholas Kristof said the most troubling finding is not the ranking itself, but the steady downward trend over time. He noted that the United States has slipped under both Republican and Democratic administrations and now risks further decline following President Donald Trump’s decision to cut spending on health care and other social services.

The Social Progress Index was first adopted in 2011. That year, the United States ranked 18th, a position that was already seen as concerning, even though it still outperformed France, Italy, and Spain. Those countries have since overtaken the United States.

Falling behind peers

Michael Green, chief executive of the organization that published the annual index, says the decline places the United States behind all other Group of Seven countries.

“Quality of life in America is not just worse than that in small Scandinavian countries,” Green said. “It is worse than all G7 competitors, former communist states like Slovenia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and relatively young democracies such as South Korea.”

Weak scores in safety, health, education

Kristof argues that while any index can be debated, objective data across key sectors reinforce the findings.

• In public safety, the United States ranked 99th, behind Pakistan and Nicaragua.
• In basic education from kindergarten through grade 12, it placed 47th, trailing countries such as Vietnam and Kazakhstan.
• In health outcomes, the United States ranked 45th, behind Argentina and Panama.

Other well-being measures also point to decline. The latest World Happiness Report ranked the United States 24th, down from 15th a decade ago. A freedom index published by the Atlantic Council places the country 22nd, while the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index ranks it 28th.

Economic growth, social strain

Kristof said the United States continues to post strong economic growth but struggles to convert rising gross domestic product into better living conditions for ordinary citizens.

He argued that the Social Progress Index helps explain public frustration that has fueled political polarization, contributing to the election of President Trump on the right and New York Governor Zohran Mamdani on the left.

As an example, Kristof cites estimates that Trump’s cuts to health care spending could lead to 51,000 additional deaths annually, more than 100,000 untreated addiction cases, and 138,000 untreated diabetes cases each year.

A warning at 250 years

As the United States marked the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, Kristof says the index serves as a mirror for a nation founded on the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

To reverse the decline, he called for investment in human capital, including children, education, skills training, early childhood programs, addiction treatment, and community colleges.

“The fall in America’s global standing should be a loud wake-up call,” Kristof concluded. “We are not the nation we imagine ourselves to be, unless we are content with a new national slogan: number 32.”