Does someone know the absolute terms,? Like 50% alone or more/less?
antea_04 on
[OC] Hi everybody! I work at “Our World in Data” and this is a chart I made for our work on Time Use. The data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ([American Time Use Survey](https://www.bls.gov/tus/)) and we made the visualization using our tool grapher.
>Young Americans spend much more time alone than they did in the past.
>According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, people aged 15–29 spent about 45% more time alone in 2023 than in 2010. The survey classifies all time spent without anybody physically present as “time spent alone”. This can include time spent talking on the phone or video calls.
>Time spent alone among young people increased slowly in the second half of the 2010s and then rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. It hasn’t fallen back to earlier levels since then.
>In absolute terms, young people spent around four hours alone per day in 2010. By 2023, that number had grown to six hours per day.
>Although all Americans spend more time alone, the increase is much smaller for older age groups. Those aged 30 to 44 spend about 20% more time alone now than in 2010, while for people 45 and older, the increase is about 10%. While time alone can help with rest and personal reflection, it can also lead to loneliness and declining well-being. As time spent alone has increased, young people’s time with family, and even more so with friends, has decreased.
>The survey classifies all time spent without anybody physically present as “time spent alone”.
I think this is what needs be to highlighted in this data. While I don’t think spending time online with your friends in games/chat rooms/video calls is equal to spending time physically with those people, it is certainly not the same as time spent completely alone either.
Bakingsquared80 on
Phone or video calls are classified as alone time. 15 years ago you couldn’t just facetime someone like you can now.
![[OC] Young Americans spend much more time alone than they did fifteen years ago](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/rgq8do0zbx3f1-1536x1536.png "[OC] Young Americans spend much more time alone than they did fifteen years ago")
4 Comments
Does someone know the absolute terms,? Like 50% alone or more/less?
[OC] Hi everybody! I work at “Our World in Data” and this is a chart I made for our work on Time Use. The data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ([American Time Use Survey](https://www.bls.gov/tus/)) and we made the visualization using our tool grapher.
My colleague Bastian wrote a [short article ](https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/young-americans-spend-much-more-time-alone-than-they-did-fifteen-years-ago)to go along with it, I’m quoting it below. You can follow the last link to explore more of our research on Time Use!
>Young Americans spend much more time alone than they did in the past.
>According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, people aged 15–29 spent about 45% more time alone in 2023 than in 2010. The survey classifies all time spent without anybody physically present as “time spent alone”. This can include time spent talking on the phone or video calls.
>Time spent alone among young people increased slowly in the second half of the 2010s and then rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. It hasn’t fallen back to earlier levels since then.
>In absolute terms, young people spent around four hours alone per day in 2010. By 2023, that number had grown to six hours per day.
>Although all Americans spend more time alone, the increase is much smaller for older age groups. Those aged 30 to 44 spend about 20% more time alone now than in 2010, while for people 45 and older, the increase is about 10%. While time alone can help with rest and personal reflection, it can also lead to loneliness and declining well-being. As time spent alone has increased, young people’s time with family, and even more so with friends, has decreased.
>[Explore more research and data on how people spend their time](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/who-americans-spend-their-time-with?country=~15-29+years)
>The survey classifies all time spent without anybody physically present as “time spent alone”.
I think this is what needs be to highlighted in this data. While I don’t think spending time online with your friends in games/chat rooms/video calls is equal to spending time physically with those people, it is certainly not the same as time spent completely alone either.
Phone or video calls are classified as alone time. 15 years ago you couldn’t just facetime someone like you can now.