A growing share of Americans now report spending no time with friends in a typical week, a troubling shift that has doubled since 2004 and raises fresh concerns about the nations deepening loneliness crisis.
According to The Post Millennial, a new Gallup survey shows that 16 percent of Americans say they spend zero hours with friends in an average week, underscoring a cultural drift away from in-person relationships. The poll indicates that younger adults have largely maintained their social ties since 2004, while older Americans are increasingly withdrawing from regular social interaction.
Gallups analysis compared data from 2004 with responses collected in 2025, using the average of two questions to gauge social time. Respondents were asked, "In a typical week, how much time (estimated in hours) do you spend with friends," and "In a typical week, how much time (estimated in hours) do you spend with friends in person."
For adults ages 18 to 34, weekly time with friends slipped only marginally, from 11.4 mean hours to 11.2, suggesting younger Americans are at least partially resisting the isolation trend. Among those ages 35 to 54, however, average weekly time with friends dropped from 7.5 hours to 6.5, while Americans 55 and older saw a sharper decline from 8.8 hours to 6.3.
A 2023 Pew Research Center poll found that 61 percent of US adults consider having close friends extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life. Yet even as Americans affirm the value of friendship, eight percent of respondents admitted they have no close friends at all, a stark indicator of social fragmentation.
In a 2023 Surgeon Generals advisory titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation," then-Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy warned that loneliness "is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death." He added, "The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity."
The advisory proposed "six pillars to advance social connection," including efforts to strengthen "social infrastructure in local communities," mobilize the health sector, and build a "culture of connection." For conservatives who value family, faith, and community as the backbone of civil society, the data reinforce the need to rebuild local institutions and personal responsibility rather than rely on expansive federal solutions to mend Americas fraying social fabric.
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