The Loneliness Epidemic: What the Data Actually Shows
The Surgeon General calls it an epidemic. Headlines warn of a crisis. But what does the data actually say about loneliness in America?
We dug into the numbers—specifically the American Time Use Survey, which tracks how Americans spend every minute of their day—to understand how our social connections change across a lifetime. What we found tells a more nuanced story than the headlines suggest.
The Shape of a Social Life
At 18, we spend more time with friends than at any other point in our lives. It’s the peak—hours each day surrounded by peers, building the relationships that feel like they’ll last forever.
Then it starts to change.
By our mid-20s, time with friends has already begun its long decline. Coworkers fill some of the gap. Then partners. Then children. Each transition reshapes who we spend our hours with—not by choice, but by the structure of life itself.
The Loneliness Epidemic in Numbers
The data reveals several critical inflection points:
- Age 18: Peak time with friends—the social high point
- Age 25-35: Coworkers become our primary social contact outside family
- Age 40-50: Children dominate our social time
- Age 65: Retirement removes the coworker connection entirely
- Age 70+: Time spent alone increases dramatically as partners pass and mobility decreases
This isn’t a bug in modern life—it’s the pattern that emerges from how we’ve structured work, family, and retirement. The loneliness epidemic isn’t about people making bad choices. It’s about systems that leave people isolated.
Why the Elderly Are Hit Hardest
The data makes one thing painfully clear: the loneliness epidemic hits hardest at the end of life. After 70, time spent alone accelerates while time with others diminishes.
This isn’t surprising when you look at the structural factors:
- Retirement eliminates daily coworker interaction
- Children have their own families and careers
- Partners pass away
- Mobility limitations reduce spontaneous social contact
The result is a demographic spending more time alone than any other—and often without the social infrastructure to change it.
What the Data Doesn’t Show
Time spent with others isn’t the same as connection. You can spend hours with coworkers and feel isolated. You can live alone and feel deeply connected through calls, messages, and meaningful relationships.
The American Time Use Survey measures presence, not intimacy. The loneliness epidemic is about both—the decline in physical togetherness and the quality of connection when we’re together.
Watch the Full Visualization
We turned this data into an animated visualization that shows how the people in our lives change from childhood to old age. Watch the patterns unfold:
The Takeaway
The loneliness epidemic is real, but it’s not mysterious. The data shows exactly where connection drops off and why. The question isn’t whether we’re getting lonelier—we are. The question is what we’re going to do about structures that leave people isolated at the moments they need connection most.
Data source: American Time Use Survey via Our World in Data. Visualization by Significant Figures.