Americans' Social Activity Has Steeply Declined in the Past 30 Years

In recent years, there has been extensive discussion of a social decline in the United States, including a U.S. surgeon general advisory in 2023 that declared American loneliness to be an “epidemic.”

Various surveys have tracked America’s social decline over the past few decades. Tracking data from the American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are spending more time alone and less time with friends than they were two decades ago. Perhaps most notably, the American Perspectives Survey has found that from 1990 to 2021, the percentage of Americans with five or more close friends dropped by 25 points , from 63% to 38%.

But while extensive public tracking data show general declines in Americans’ socialization, little, if any, public data show what this looks like for the average American — how the day-to-day activities Americans participate in have changed over the past few decades.