A lonely-hearts club: That’s the United States today

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A new Pew Research Center survey found that Americans are increasingly lonely although women are more likely to seek emotional support from family and friends than men.

As public debate and discussion over the status of men in America continues, some have raised concerns about men’s struggles with loneliness.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that, compared with women, men don’t report that they feel lonely more often or have fewer close friends. However, men do seem to turn to their networks less often for social connection and emotional support.

About one-in-six Americans (16%) say they feel lonely or isolated from those around them all or most of the time – including roughly equal shares of men and women. About 4-in-10 adults (38%) say they sometimes feel lonely, and 47% say they hardly ever or never do.

While experiences with loneliness don’t differ much by gender, they do differ significantly by age.

Adults younger than 50 are much more likely than those ages 50 and older to say they often feel lonely (22% vs. 9%). Across age groups, adults 65 and older are the most likely to say they hardly ever or never feel this way (66%).

We also asked Americans where they would turn for emotional support if they needed it. Women are more likely than men to say they’d be extremely or very likely to turn to each of the following sources for this type of support:

• Their mother (54% of women vs. 42% of men)

• A friend (54% vs. 38%)

• Another family member who is not their parent, spouse or partner (44% vs. 26%)

• A mental health professional (22% vs. 16%)

Men and women are about equally likely to say they have at least one close friend – and most do. But men who have close friends don’t communicate with them as often as women do.

Higher shares of women than men say they send text messages, interact on social media, and talk on the phone or video chat with a close friend at least a few times a week.

The nationally representative survey of 6,204 U.S. adults was conducted Sept. 3-15, 2024, using the Center’s American Trends Panel.2

Other important findings

• Emotional well-being is linked with education, income and marital status. Adults with some college or less education, those with lower incomes and those who are not married are among the most likely to say they feel lonely all or most of the time.

These groups are also among the least likely to say they feel optimistic about their life.

• Adults younger than 50 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to say they’d be extremely or very likely to turn to a mental health professional for emotional support (24% vs. 14%). In addition, higher shares of Black (26%) and Hispanic (25%) adults say they’d be likely to do this compared with White (16%) and Asian (17%) adults.

• Two-thirds of Americans say all-female social groups have a positive impact on women’s well-being. This is higher than the share saying all-male groups have a positive impact on men’s well-being (56%).

Americans are also more likely to say women-only groups have a positive impact on society than to say the same about all-male groups (57% vs. 43%).

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