Nearly one in 10 young adults in the United States now reports having no face-to-face social interaction on an average day, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Census data by the Financial Times. The finding highlights how patterns of social interaction changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and, for some young adults, have remained different years after restrictions ended.
The analysis focuses on Americans aged 23 to 29, an age group that largely overlaps with older members of Generation Z. In 2019, before the pandemic, approximately 3% of people in this age group reported having no face-to-face social interaction during the day. By late 2021, the figure had risen to almost 9%. It reached about 10% in 2023 before declining somewhat in 2024 and 2025. Despite the decline, the rate remained higher than it was before the pandemic.
The figures come from the American Time Use Survey, which collects information about how people spend their time. The data provides a measure of whether people spend time interacting with others in person, rather than measuring loneliness itself. This distinction is important because having no face-to-face interaction on a particular day does not necessarily mean that a person has no social relationships. People can still communicate with friends, relatives and colleagues through phone calls, messaging platforms, social media and other forms of digital communication.
The change was particularly pronounced among the most socially isolated group of young adults. Before the pandemic, the most socially connected quarter of young adults spent about 87% of their day with other people. That proportion fell to approximately 78% during the pandemic before recovering to around 83% by 2025. Among the least socially connected quarter, however, time spent with other people fell to almost zero during the pandemic and remained close to that level through 2025, according to the analysis.
The pandemic substantially altered everyday routines. Lockdowns, social-distancing measures, school closures and the shift toward remote work reduced opportunities for in-person interaction. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has documented the significant impact of COVID-19 on social isolation and loneliness, noting that social isolation and loneliness increased during the pandemic.
Digital activities also became a larger part of daily life. According to the same analysis of American Time Use Survey data, Americans spent an average of 37 minutes per day on social media and computers in 2025, compared with 25 minutes in 2015. Teenagers spent considerably more time on these activities, averaging about 90 minutes per day.
Work patterns have also remained different from those before the pandemic. In 2025, 35% of employed Americans reported working from home for at least part of their working time. The continued prevalence of remote and hybrid work means that many people have fewer routine opportunities to interact with colleagues in person than they did before COVID-19.
However, the available data does not establish that COVID-19 alone caused the long-term decline in face-to-face interaction. Social isolation and loneliness existed before the pandemic, and several factors can influence how frequently people interact in person. Changes in technology use, work arrangements and social habits may all contribute to the trend.
What the data does show is that the pandemic coincided with a substantial increase in the number of young adults experiencing days without face-to-face interaction. Although the overall figure has improved from its 2023 peak, it has not returned to the level recorded before COVID-19. The findings therefore point to a lasting change in how some young adults spend their time and maintain social connections, making post-pandemic social interaction an important area of continued research.
