The nation's welcome mats have been doing a lot less welcoming lately. Although Americans have been spending much more time at home in recent years'an hour and 39 minutes more a day in 2022 than in 2003'they aren't inviting other people in. The percentage of people who hosted or attended a social event on an average day has fallen by 50 percent over the past couple of decades. Socializing of any kind declined over that same period, and isolation rose. These days, it seems, home is where people go to be alone. According to a report from the American Psychological Association, more than half of Americans often or sometimes feel isolated from others. Yet they have also been feeling more stressed in recent years, and when people are stressed, the APA report found, a common reaction is to cancel social plans. All of these stats paint a picture of a nation full of tense, isolated individuals hunkering down at home because the idea of, say, going to a party'let alone throwing one'seems too...
learn more
