As shelter-in-place orders continue around the country, many Americans are struggling with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Slightly more Americans are reporting feelings of loneliness during the pandemic compared with last year.
About three in 10 (31%) Millennials in this survey said they were always or often lonely before coronavirus – similar to the findings from a July 2019 survey from YouGov which was cited in Psychology Today among other media.
Thinking of their experiences during the pandemic, 26% of U.S. adults say they’ve been feeling lonely in recent weeks. Almost two in five (38%) Millennials reported feeling lonely during the COVID-19 outbreak.
But many, it seems, were struggling with these feelings even before coronavirus. When asked to think about their life and their friendships before the COVID-19 outbreak, 19% of U.S. adults in this YouGov poll said that they were always (7%) or often (12%) lonely.
Amid COVID-19, Millennials Are Feeling Lonelier Than Ever
Millennials are 15 percentage points more likely than Gen X (23%) and 20 percentage points more likely than Baby Boomers (18%) to say they’ve felt lonely “always” or “often” since the beginning of the pandemic.