A growing body of research supports what many people already know: Young people are lonely.
Nearly a quarter of 18- to 29-year-olds, or 24%, say they feel lonely or isolated all or most of the time, according to a January 2025 report from the Pew Research Center.
However, for young people, their feelings of loneliness are not necessarily caused by a lack of friends.
A new study published in the scientific journal Plos One looked at people’s age in relation to both their social well-being (how much support they have in their relationships and friendships) and their poor social health (feelings of loneliness and disconnection).
Jeffrey Hall, professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas and co-author of the study, said researchers found that certain groups experienced both “higher levels of loneliness and higher levels of connectedness.”
The group was young and educated women. Here’s how this happens and why.
“Women tend to have higher expectations for friendship.”
Researchers spoke to 4,812 people between the ages of 18 and 95 and found that young people are more likely to experience major changes.
The young participants in the study cited major life changes, such as earning or completing a degree, ending a romantic relationship, or moving, as examples of recent experiences. All of these are standard changes that occur as we become adults. And many of these situations can mean starting over in a new location, Hall says.
Hall describes it as a “very isolating kind of experience” for young people who are constantly “uprooted” and need to “find new systems to stay in touch with others.”
Please call my sister every Sunday.
Jeffrey Hall
Professor of Communication Studies, University of Kansas
Regarding women in particular, Hall’s research found that “women tend to have higher friendship expectations than men,” he says. These expectations often revolve around the feeling that your friend genuinely likes you, spends quality time with you, and is a good person to be around.
Even if you have a lot of friends, he says, this can make you want to have more friendships.
“Feeling lonely is part of what it means to have a healthy system.”
Hall believes that to alleviate loneliness among young people, there needs to be less cultural emphasis on climbing the economic and occupational ladder and more emphasis on social connections.
“We’re asking young people to maintain all of these friendships for longer periods of time than ever before, with more economic uncertainty than ever before, and as they pursue the brass ring,” he says.
People should not be criticized or made to feel bad if they choose to turn down a job that would mean taking them further away from their social networks, he added.
A change in collective mindset will take time.
But until then, there are some things young people can do to spend more quality time and connect with their loved ones.
First, create a habit of talking to people. “Call your sister every Sunday,” Hall says, for example. For friends who are hard to pin down, “social media is better than nothing,” he says. Try texting, calling, or video calling sporadically, and try to meet in person whenever possible. Finally, “recognize that building social health is a priority,” he says. It is as important as physical health.
Hall added that feeling lonely is not a sign that something is wrong. It’s about wanting to be with people.
“Feeling lonely is part of what it means to have a healthy system,” he says. “What matters is how you deal with that feeling of loneliness.”
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