Young people now spend 1,000 fewer hours per year with friends than they did 20 years ago. 72% of Americans see people they care about only twice a month or less. Mel Robbins explores why loneliness has become so widespread and what it takes to rebuild real connections.
Young people today spend nearly 1,000 fewer hours per year with their friends.
Hold on a second.
1,000 less hours a year compared to 20 years ago.
Okay, I just want— somebody better check my math on this, but 1,000 hours, if you put it in a 40-hour work week, is 25 weeks. That's terrible.
Yeah. And it gets worse, Mel. 67% of Americans never participate in any kind of club or organization or group. And 72% of Americans hang out with the people they care about 2, 1, or 0 times per month. Per month? Yes. 2, 1, or 0 times per month.
Puts into perspective why people feel lonely, why people say, "I never see my friends," why people say adult friendship is so hard. What are we going to do about this?
Well, so there's a reason that I studied loneliness from the perspective of public health.
Okay.
Because there's a lot that we need to do as individuals to take agency, to go out and spend more time with our friends, right? To change these numbers. But the reality is we're also living in a society right now when it feels hard, right? We work all the time. We have long commutes. We're spending so much time on social media that it feels like we're eating junk food and we're full and we're satisfied, but we're not actually getting the nutrients that we need, right? There's so many different factors. People move around more than they used to. More people live alone than used to. So there's a lot of trends in modern society and forces that make it feel really hard. We need to slowly shift the culture that we're living in so that it's easier to be socially healthy day to day.
But you can't wait for the culture to shift. You cannot. You have to be shifting it for yourself. Exactly.
Oprah Winfrey: How to Find Your Unique Purpose, Authentic Power, and Calling in Life
