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There is no doubt about it: America has a loneliness epidemic. Millions of Americans suffer from strong feelings of alienation, and that number only seems to be increasing. The question is, which Americans are the loneliest, and how can we help them? The answers to this question lie in the generational and gender gaps of American society.
There has been great debate over which age group is the most isolated, with data indicating that both baby boomers and Generation Z-ers represent the loneliest generation of Americans. According to the US Census, baby boomers are aging alone more than any other generation in US history. About eight million people over the age of fifty in the US lack a spouse, partner, or close kin. The University of Chicago’s General Social Survey asked respondents in 2014 how often they lacked companionship, felt left out, and felt isolated from others. Baby boomers said they experienced these feelings more often than any other generation, including their predecessors. Overall, twenty-five percent of baby boomers never married or have divorced, and one in six live alone. Studies are still trying to establish why this trend is more common, but often attribute the baby boomers’ emphasis on individualism over family as the root of the problem.
A recent study by the health company Cigna found something entirely different. Though baby boomers do experience loneliness to some degree, the data found that young adults (ages 18 to 22) are the loneliest generation of Americans. According to the survey, more than half of young adults say they feel left out, isolated, and without anyone to talk to. The study found that sixty-nine percent in this age group felt that the people around them were “not really with them,” and sixty-eight percent felt as if no one knew them well. Another study by the Intergenerational Foundation reported that today’s Generation Z-ers are unhappier and lonelier than previous generations, with millennials’ sense of belonging dropping thirty-two percent since 2005. Both studies found that technology and social media were to blame, to some extent.
While there is conflicting data about who makes up the loneliest generation, there is a consensus regarding which gender is the loneliest. According to substantial research, women across all ages and lifestyles report higher levels of loneliness than men do. The only anomaly in this data is the subset of single people. Single men vastly outnumber single women when it comes to feelings of loneliness and alienation. While it remains unclear which gender has better coping mechanisms when it comes to loneliness, it is clear that each gender has a distinctive coping style. Men tend to focus on maintaining a group of acquaintances to combat loneliness, while women tend to focus on one-on-one relationships.
The question then remains: how do we help lonely Americans, regardless of age or gender? New research has indicated that while some Americans may feel lonely, it may not be as extreme an epidemic as we may think. AEI’s 2019 Survey on Community and Society found that although a third of Americans feel lonely at times, nearly three-quarters of people who report feeling lonely say they have people to whom they feel close. The survey also indicated that activities like being part of a religious community or interacting regularly with neighbors have been associated with lower levels of loneliness, and may present a possible solution.
Tim Carney, author of the recently released “Alienated America,” tackles these issues of alienation and loneliness head on. Carney hypothesizes that the real source of isolation comes from the erosion of institutions in America, including religion, marriage, and community. The solutions, he advocates, are in “strong communities that are diverse along multiple dimensions… through setting norms, providing meeting grounds, and most important, offering lifelong support.” Finding communities where one belongs may be a challenge in an increasingly disconnected country, but an effort must be made to bring alienated Americans, young or old, boy or girl, back together.
To learn more about “Alienated America” and our loneliness epidemic, tune in to this week’s episode of the Femsplainers Podcast.
There is no doubt about it: America has a loneliness epidemic. Millions of Americans suffer from strong feelings of alienation, and that number only seems to be increasing.
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