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Well-being is one of those often intangible descriptors that, while often overlooked, can have a very tangible impact on consumer behavior. Within Black History Month and amidst the sweeping federal orders impacting underrepresented populations across the U.S., CivicScience has the most up-to-date figures on well-being in 2025.
The CivicScience Well-Being Index for February shows that well-being among the U.S. adult general population is at its lowest level in the last 12 months, dropping from 55.88 in January to 53.5 in February (as of February 18). Women are experiencing lower well-being than men, coming in at 48.67, and adults aged 18-34 are experiencing lower well-being than any other adult age group this year (49.6).
In 2024, well-being dropped sharply in November around the presidential election. While it rebounded in December, the start of the new year brought another steep decline amid the transition to a new administration, a surge in executive orders, the California wildfires, and the most significant U.S. airspace disaster in 15 years—along with other tragedies—taking a serious toll on well-being.
Looking back, this is the lowest the WBI has been since March 2022 (52.49) when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Fear at Highest Level in 3 Years
The percentage of overall Americans indicating that they feel ‘fear,’ ‘sad,’ ‘worried,’ and ‘stressed’ have all contributed to the Well-Being Index decreasing in the past month, with all but ‘stressed’ ranking at their highest in the past year. In particular, ‘fear’ reached 32.54 in February, the highest percentage since March 2022 (33.12).
A deeper look at the numbers shows that the U.S. Hispanic population likely largely drives this downturn. Overall well-being among U.S. Hispanic adults ranks lower than any other group, dropping from 54.3 in Q4 2024 to 51.5 today, unsurprising given recent legislation impacting these communities. The decrease in the index among the U.S. Hispanic population was driven by increased fear, stress, and worry; all three emotions went up 5 points or more among this population segment.
While Black Americans rank slightly higher on the well-being index, sentiment did drop from 57.5 in Q4 2024 to 56.9 today.
While emotional well-being is on the decline among U.S. adults, not all demographics are experiencing this decline in the same way. Weighed down by feelings of fear and worry at a higher rate than other racial groups, Hispanic Americans are bearing the emotional brunt of this current wave of political change–a fact that will undoubtedly ripple out into consumer behaviors in the upcoming months.
