Who Are the Happiest People?

28 June 2026  2 Kings 4:8-11,14-16

“At this season, when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son.” (2 Kings 4:16) 

The story of the Shunamite woman and the unexpected birth of her son is one of the Bible’s favorite tropes – a barren woman miraculously conceives. There are Abraham and Sarah, parents of Isaac; Isaac and Rebekah, parents of Jacob and Esau; Jacob and Rachel, parents of Joseph and Benjamin; Manoah and his wife, parents of Samson; Hannah and Elkanah, parents of Samuel; and Elizabeth and Zechariah, parents of John the Baptist. The Bible loves to talk about the love of God with the arrival of an unexpected baby.

 It’s funny, then, how this reassuring sign of divine providence is no longer good news.

Religious people are happier than non-religious people by 20-30%, about the same difference as that between married and single people. These data are consistent over time, and almost entirely uncontested: married, religious people, and their kids, are just plain happier.

Today in the United States 60% of young men 18-29 are single, double the rate for young women. Almost half of Gen Z men have never had romantic relationships as teens. Most young men are not interested in dating, preferring diversions like social media and video games, fearing rejection of their “toxic” maleness.

The marriage rate in the U.S. is 6.1 marriages/thousand people, down from 10.6 in 1982, down from 16.4 in 1946. The national fertility rate is 1.57 children/woman – the replacement rate (the number of children/woman to keep the population the same) is 2.2. Marriage and family are not goals anymore. They are seen as traps, impediments, or artifacts of a bygone time.

All this despite the fact that, by every objective measure of human well-being, going back generations, the happiest people in America are married people with children. They live longer and make more money, as do their kids; they stay in school longer and graduate, as do their kids; they are healthier and live longer, kids too; they stay in the workforce longer and have more satisfaction in their work, kids too; they have better relationships within their families and communities, kids too. Married people are also more religious, and far more likely to participate regularly in their religious communities. Religious people are happier than non-religious people by 20-30%, about the same difference as that between married and single people. These data are consistent over time, and almost entirely uncontested: married, religious people, and their kids, are just plain happier.

A sensible society would point all this out, promote it, and celebrate it. But all the numbers we see are going in the opposite direction, and social media persist in claiming that decisions to remain single, faithless, and childless are signs of superior intelligence. The Shunamite woman’s unplanned baby today is unwanted, unwelcome, an anchor keeping people from professional and economic success, a sign at best of divine meddling and impolite intrusion.

What’s wrong with this picture?

One of the calling cards of the devil reads “Father of Lies” (John 8:44), and we have the receipts of those falsehoods. There are a thousand things to do about this, but certainly the first is to tell the truth about the numbers, tell it over and over again until it sinks in, and a critical mass of people start questioning the conventional wisdom of Instagram and Tik Tok, and change their minds. You’ll know that is starting to happen when you hear more about date nights, wedding invitations, and baby showers. You’ll know it most of all when you don’t get a scowl or a blank look when you mention Isaac, Samson, Samuel, and the Shunamite woman. They’ll recognize the names, know why you mentioned them, and smile.