One in ten young adults now has no in-person contact with other human beings on an average day.
Posted by Bulwark Takes, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 65%
Bulwark TakesAug 21, 2026
Secondary coverage of an analysis of the American Time Use Survey reports that about 10% of young adults (ages 23 to 29) had no in-person interaction on an average day, up from about 3% before the pandemic and holding steady through 2025, the latest data cited.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… In any event, there was, you know, this this massive, um, shift during the pandemic, but then it didn't reset. So there's a large portion, particularly of young people, who have no contact whatsoever with other human beings, at least not in person. So, on an average day, one in ten young adults now has no in person contact, whereas, um, let's say before the pandemic, uh, it was three or four people now it's, ah, three or four out of a hundred. Now it's ten out of a hundred, have no contact with any luck. …
Bulwark Takes · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Multiple articles report that nearly 10% of Americans aged 23 to 29 had no in-person interaction with another person on an average day, based on an analysis of American Time Use Survey data.[3][4][5][6]
Supports. The figure rose from roughly 3% before the pandemic to about 10% by 2023 and remained near that level through 2025, which supports the 'now' framing as of the claim date.[4][5][6]
Context. The American Time Use Survey is a Census Bureau survey conducted for BLS that is nationally representative and based on annual data, which is the underlying official record for these estimates.[1][2]
Context. The sources all derive from one analysis of the same survey data, so they are not independent confirmations. The claim's population is 23 to 29 year olds rather than all young adults, a minor scope difference that does not change the core figure.[3][4][5][6][7]
Sources
7 sources: 2 primary, 5 not rated
- 1American Time Use Survey (ATUS)census.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 2American Time Use Survey Technical Notebls.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Face-to-Face Contact Is Increasingly Disappearing for Young Adultsiceclog.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4Many Gen Zers Report No Daily Face-To-Face Human Interactionsbrobible.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5One in 10 young US adults spends no time with others on a ...thenews.com.pk · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 6Is the Epidemic of Loneliness the Result of Time Online? > AddictionNewsaddictionnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 7Polymarket's Postlinkedin.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post