Coronavirus has left Americans unhappier than ever. But here's why things are looking up.

The main pillars of happiness — social connections, physical health, income and employment — have all been threatened by the virus and by the actions taken to control its spread.

Before that, erosion of trust in public institutions, weaker social connections, declining generosity and growing inequality were all playing their part.

ranked 11th among 156 countries in the 2012 World Happiness Report, published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network using data from the Gallup World Poll, it had fallen to 18th before the coronavirus pandemic.

A new survey looking at happiness post-coronavirus shows that Americans have never been in more despair.

Now, a new survey looking at happiness post-coronavirus shows that Americans have never been in more despair.

Amid this troubling downturn is an even more troubling downturn: Like the income gap, the happiness gap has been growing between those at the top and those at the bottom.

The 2016 World Happiness Report showed U.S.

happiness inequality, a more encompassing measure of inequality, to also be among the highest and fast-growing among the industrial countries, and the 2020 World Happiness Report shows that greater inequality of happiness tends to reduce average national happiness.

To achieve better future results for both health and happiness, there is emerging evidence that shared social norms and the willingness to elevate the interests of others are much more effective than are stringently enforced lockdowns.