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A twenty-first century of solitude? Time alone and together in the United States

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  • Enghin Atalay

    (Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)

Abstract

This paper explores trends in time alone and with others in the United States. Since 2003, Americans have increasingly spent their free time alone on leisure at home and have decreasingly spent their free time with individuals from other households. These trends are more pronounced for non-White individuals, for males, for the less educated, and for individuals from lower-income households. Survey respondents who spend a large fraction of their free time alone report lower subjective well-being. As a result, differential trends in time alone suggest that between-group subjective well-being inequality may be increasing more quickly than previous research has reported.

Suggested Citation

  • Enghin Atalay, 2024. "A twenty-first century of solitude? Time alone and together in the United States," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 1-33, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:37:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s00148-024-00978-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-024-00978-0
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    2. Fari Aftab & Juliane Scheffel & David Spencer, 2025. "The subjective well-being of immigrants and natives during Covid-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Charlene Marie Kalenkoski & Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, 2025. "Teen social interactions and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 357-404, March.
    4. R. Gordon Rinderknecht & Daniela V. Negraia & Sophie Lohmann & Emilio Zagheni, 2023. "Understanding the growth of solitary leisure in the U.S., 1965 – 2018," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-025, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Karina Colombo & Elisa Failache & Martina Querejeta, 2025. "High-speed internet and socioemotional wellbeing in adolescence and youth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-29, March.

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