Younger generations’ interpersonal social networks appear to be narrowing.
Around one in five 18-34 year-olds say that they have one or fewer close friends, three times the level in 2011/12, and older generations now typically have far more close friends than younger groups in an inversion of historical trends. This is far worse than in recent years,
suggesting the pandemic may be contributing to an “epidemic of loneliness” among young people.
