Americans Are Becoming Less Social. The Decline Is Worse For Young People.

Americans are much less social than they were 20 years ago, with the steepest decline being recorded among young people, new figures show.

Data from the American Time Use Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the amount of time Americans spend socializing every day dropped from 45 minutes to 30.

According to Axios, the biggest drop happened among young people. The 15- to 24-year-old age group went from spending an hour a day socializing to 35 minutes over the past two decades.

The data aligns with other findings that suggest fundamental changes in how people interact with one another, how they spend their time, and the impact of technology on relationships.

A 2023 Gallup poll found that just over half of U.S. teenagers were spending at least four hours a day on social media apps such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. According to the poll, this equated to about 4.8 hours of use a day by 51 percent of U.S. teenagers on the platforms.

The poll noted that the social media usage ranged from a low of 4.1 hours for 13-year-olds to nearly 6 hours for 17-year-olds. It also found that girls spent more time on the platforms than boys: 5.3 hours to 4.4 hours.

Axios noted other changes to modern life, including more people working remotely, as factors in the decline in socializing. Also, activities that used to require people to go out now are increasingly available remotely. People can stream new movies rather than venturing out to a theater, shop for any item they desire on Amazon and have it delivered, and order food from nearly any restaurant.

Other findings in the American Time Use Survey found that the number one activity people spent time on, outside of sleeping, was work.

“Men were more likely than women to spend time on work and work-related activities (46 percent compared to 37 percent). Among those who worked on an average day, men averaged 8.3 hours, while women averaged 7.6 hours,” the survey found.

The next largest category was leisure activities and sports. The survey found that 95 percent of people 15 and older found time to engage in some form of leisure activity such as watching TV, socializing, or exercising.