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It has been called an “epidemic” of loneliness and isolation. The “bowling alone” incident.
By any name it means Americans‘Social isolation is increasing by many measures.
Americans are less likely than recent generations to be involved in civic groups, unions, and churches. Recent surveys indicate that they have fewer friends, trust each other less and are less likely to hang out at a local bar or coffee shop. Given all this, it is not surprising that many people feel lonely or isolated most of the time.
Such trends form the background of associated Press Report on small groups working to restore community connections.
They include a “trauma-informed community development” ministry in Pittsburgh; A cooperative that helps small farmers and their communities in Kentucky; an “intentional” community of Baltimore neighbors; and organizations seeking to restore neighborhoods and neighborliness in Akron, Ohio.
Loneliness and its health risks
In 2023, the then Surgeon General Vivek Murthy He reported on an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”, similar to his predecessors’ advice on smoking and obesity.
Solitude And loneliness are not the same – isolation is being socially isolated, loneliness is the crisis of lack of human connection. One may be lonely but not lonely, or not alone in a crowd.
But overall, isolation and loneliness “are risk factors for many major health conditions, including heart disease, dementia, depression, and premature mortality,” the report said.
Murthy says he’s encouraged by groups working toward social engagement through local initiatives ranging from potluck dinners to service projects. Their new Together project, supported by the Knight Foundation, aims to support such efforts.
“What we have to do now is accelerate that movement,” he said.
The pandemic has temporarily increased social isolation. There is some improvement, but often not back to where it was before.
Scholars and activists have cited a variety of possible causes – and effects – of the disconnect. These range from worsening political polarization to destructive economic forces to rat-race programs to pervasive social media.
Murthy said that for many users, social media has become an endless scroll of display, stimulation and unattainably perfect body types.
“What started out perhaps as an effort to build community has quickly turned into something that I worry is actually actively contributing to loneliness,” he said.
Bowling alone, more than ever
Harvard’s Robert Putnam described the decline in civic engagement 25 years ago in his widely cited 2000 book “Bowling Alone.” It was so named because the decline also affected bowling leagues. Bowling was not the issue. It involved people spending time together regularly, making friends, finding romantic partners, helping each other in times of need.
According to a follow-up analysis of Putnam and Shaylin Romney Garrett’s 2020 book “The Upswing”, membership in many organizations – including service, veteran, scouting, fraternal, religious, parent, and civic – has continued its long decline in the 21st century.
While some organizations have evolved in recent years, the authors argue that member participation is often lax compared to the more intensive groups of the past with their regular meetings and activities – making contributions, receiving newsletters.
a reaction against institutions
Certainly, some types of social bonds have earned distrust. People have been betrayed by organizations, families, and religious groups who can be harshest on those who disagree with them.
But cutting the connection has its costs.
“There’s been such a movement for individual autonomy, but I think we’ve gone so far that there should be no limits on what we can do, what we can believe, that we’ve become allergic to institutions,” said Daniel Cox, director of the Survey on American Life and a senior fellow for polling and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute.
“I hope we will begin to understand that unlimited individual autonomy does not make us happier and creates many social problems,” said Cox, co-author of the 2024 report, “Disconnected: The Growing Class Divide in American Civic Life.”
by numbers
1. According to a 2024 survey by the Pew Research Center, about 16% of adults, including nearly one-quarter of adults under 30, feel lonely or isolated all or most of the time.
2. Less than half of Americans attended a religious congregation in 2023, a low point for Gallup, which has been tracking the trend since 1937.
3. About 10% of workers are in a union, down from 20% four decades ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
4. Nearly half of Americans in 2025 regularly spend time in a public space in their community, such as a coffee shop, bar, restaurant or park. That’s down from about two-thirds in 2019, according to another study, “America’s Cultural Crossroads,” from the Survey Center on American Life.
5. “Disconnected” Nearly two in 10 American adults have no close friends outside of family, according to the report. According to Gallup, only 3% said this in 1990. About one-quarter of adults have at least six close friends, down from about half in 1990.
6. According to “Disconnected,” about 4 in 10 Americans have at most one person they can depend on to lend $200, provide a place to stay or help find a job.
7. About one-quarter of Americans say most people can be trusted — down from about half in 1972, according to the General Social Survey.
Exceptions and a serious class divide
Some argue that Putnam and others are using too limited a measurement – people are finding new ways to connect to replace old ways, whether online or other new forms of networking.
Still, many of the numbers show an overall decline in connections.
It has the biggest impact on those who are already struggling — who could most use a friend, a job referral, or a doorstep casserole in tough times.
According to “Disconnected,” people with less education, which typically translates to lower income, have fewer close friends, fewer civic gathering spaces in their communities and fewer people they can turn to in a pinch.
Responses to crisis
Throughout the country, small organizations and informal groups of people have worked to build community, whether through formal events or less structured events like potluck dinners.
Murthy will continue to visit such local groups in his “Together Project” supporting such efforts.
Another group, Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute, has a searchable database of volunteer opportunities and an online forum for connecting community builders, which it calls “weavers.” Its aim is to support and train them in community-building skills.
Its executive director, Frederick J. “Where people are trusting less, where people are knowing each other less, where people are joining groups less, there are still people in every community who have decided that it’s up to them to bring people together,” Riley said.
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Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.