Americans’ social activity has steeply declined in the past 30 years

In recent years, there has been extensive discussion of a social decline in the United States, including a U.S. surgeon general advisory in 2023 that declared American loneliness to be an “epidemic.”

近年来，关于美国社会衰退的讨论十分广泛，其中包括美国卫生局局长在2023年发布的一项咨询报告，该报告宣布美国的孤独感已成为一种“流行病”。

Various surveys have tracked America’s social decline over the past few decades. Tracking data from the American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are spending more time alone and less time with friends than they were two decades ago. Perhaps most notably, the American Perspectives Survey has found that from 1990 to 2021, the percentage of Americans with five or more close friends dropped by 25 points, from 63% to 38%.

多项调查追踪了过去几十年来美国的社会衰退情况。《美国时间利用调查》的追踪数据显示，与二十年前相比，美国人独处的时间更多，与朋友相处的时间更少。最值得注意的是，《美国视角调查》发现，从1990年到2021年，拥有五个或更多亲密朋友的美国人比例下降了25个百分点，从63%降至38%。

But while extensive public tracking data show general declines in Americans’ socialization, little, if any, public data show what this looks like for the average American — how the day-to-day activities Americans participate in have changed over the past few decades.

尽管大量的公共追踪数据表明美国人的社交活动普遍减少，但几乎没有公共数据能展示这对普通美国人意味着什么——即过去几十年来美国人参与的日常活动发生了怎样的变化。

In a new survey, Data for Progress surveyed 1,098 U.S. adults and asked them how many times they engaged in various specific social activities in the past 12 months. These questions directly replicate the DDB Needham Life Style surveys, which tracked Americans’ participation in various activities from 1975-1999 and were referenced in Robert Putnam’s 2000 book “Bowling Alone.” In this analysis, Data for Progress’ 2026 data is compared with the DDB Needham Life Style survey from 1995, which is the earliest year in which full data for all comparison questions was available.

在一项新的调查中，“进步数据”（Data for Progress）对1,098名美国成年人进行了调查，询问他们在过去12个月内参与各种特定社交活动的次数。这些问题直接复制了DDB Needham生活方式调查，该调查曾追踪了1975年至1999年间美国人参与各种活动的情况，并被罗伯特·普特南2000年的著作《独自打保龄球》所引用。在此次分析中，进步数据将2026年的数据与1995年的DDB Needham生活方式调查进行了比较，1995年是所有比较问题都有完整数据的最早年份。

This survey finds significant, double-digit declines in Americans’ participation in key social activities from 1995 to 2026.

该调查发现，从1995年到2026年，美国人参与关键社交活动的比例出现了显著的两位数下降。

The chart below compares the percentage of Americans who report participating in each tested activity at least one time in the past 12 months, between the 1995 and 2026 surveys. We find that Americans’ participation in various social activities has declined by double-digit margins, including attending a class or seminar (-22), entertaining people in your home (-21), attending church or a place of worship (-20), going on a picnic (-19), going to a club meeting (-19), playing cards (-19), going out to breakfast at a restaurant (-13), and doing volunteer work (-12).

下表比较了1995年和2026年调查中，报告在过去12个月内至少参与过一次各项测试活动的美国人比例。我们发现，美国人参与各种社交活动的比例均出现了两位数的下降，包括参加课程或研讨会（-22）、在家招待客人（-21）、去教堂或礼拜场所（-20）、野餐（-19）、参加俱乐部会议（-19）、打牌（-19）、去餐馆吃早餐（-13）以及从事志愿工作（-12）。

A few activities have seen increased engagement: using the internet (+90), playing a home video game (+22), attending an exercise class (+14), going to a pop or rock concert (+13), and taking an airline trip for personal reasons (+5).

少数活动的参与度有所增加：使用互联网（+90）、玩家庭电子游戏（+22）、参加健身课程（+14）、参加流行或摇滚音乐会（+13）以及因个人原因乘坐飞机旅行（+5）。

Methodology note: This analysis compares two surveys conducted using different methodologies, including differences in constructing sampling frames, modes, and weighting approaches. The findings below should be read as suggestive of trends, not a precise estimate of change. Please see the “Methodology” section below for more information.

方法论说明：本分析比较了使用不同方法进行的两次调查，包括在构建抽样框架、调查方式和加权方法上的差异。以下调查结果应被视为趋势的暗示，而非变化的精确估计。更多信息请参阅下文的“方法论”部分。

One of the steepest declines in the survey is for “entertaining people in my home.” While in 1995, 88% of Americans reported entertaining others at home at least once in the past year, this number has declined to 67% in 2026.

调查中降幅最显著的项目之一是“在家招待客人”。1995年，88%的美国人报告称在过去一年中至少在家招待过他人一次，而这一数字在2026年下降到了67%。

Church attendance has dropped from 74% in 1995 to 54% in 2026.

教堂出席率从1995年的74%下降到了2026年的54%。

The percentage of Americans who report having gone on a picnic in the past year has declined from 58% in 1995 to 39% in 2026.

报告称在过去一年中去过野餐的美国人比例从1995年的58%下降到了2026年的39%。

There has also been a 19-point decline in attendance at club meetings, from 45% in 1995 to 26% in 2026.

俱乐部会议的出席率也下降了19个百分点，从1995年的45%降至2026年的26%。

This analysis adds to existing public data on America’s social decline. Previous reports have found that Americans are spending less time with others and reporting fewer close friends. This new analysis demonstrates that Americans are indeed spending less time in specific social settings, such as restaurants, churches, picnics, parties, bars, and social clubs.

这项分析补充了关于美国社会衰退的现有公共数据。之前的报告发现，美国人与他人相处的时间减少，拥有的亲密朋友也更少。这项新的分析表明，美国人在餐馆、教堂、野餐、聚会、酒吧和社交俱乐部等特定社交场所花费的时间确实在减少。

The DDB Needham survey was conducted by Market Facts using a stratified quota sampling procedure that begins with a sampling frame acquired from commercial list brokers. The sample oversamples by demographics such as race, gender, and marital status to oversample lower propensity respondents. Finally, the survey contacted individuals via mail.

DDB Needham调查由Market Facts公司进行，采用分层配额抽样程序，该程序始于从商业名单经纪人处获取的抽样框架。样本根据种族、性别和婚姻状况等人口统计学特征进行超额抽样，以增加对参与意愿较低受访者的覆盖。最后，该调查通过邮件联系个人。

In comparison, the Data for Progress adult sample was conducted through web panel suppliers and ensured national representativeness via quota fielding and post-stratification weighting.

相比之下，“进步数据”的成年人样本是通过网络小组供应商进行的，并通过配额投放和事后分层加权确保了全国代表性。

There is plenty of research on the compositional differences that exist across survey collection modes, and this is likely to affect these results as questions about religiosity and loneliness tend to demonstrate modal differences and social desirability biases. We understand that these factors are at play in our comparison, but find that the magnitude and consistency in trends across measures is a substantial signal about trends in behaviors nonetheless.

关于不同调查收集方式之间存在的构成差异，已有大量研究，这可能会影响这些结果，因为关于宗教信仰和孤独感的问题往往会表现出方式差异和社会期望偏差。我们理解这些因素在我们的比较中起作用，但我们认为，各项指标中趋势的幅度和一致性仍然是行为趋势的重要信号。