Men Lose Close Friendships Nationwide

The May 2021 American Perspectives Survey found that 15% of American men had no close friends, a fivefold increase from 3% in 1990. The Survey Center on American Life interviewed a representative sample of 2,019 U.S. adults and found that only 27% of men had at least six close friends, down from 55% three decades earlier. The report pointed to pandemic isolation, later marriage, geographic mobility, longer working hours, and reduced time for friendships as possible contributors to this wider "loneliness epidemic."

Previous Fact Next Fact