New research from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) shows that while most local residents once spoke to their neighbors, by 2026 this will no longer be the case.
AEI surveyed 5,357 U.S. adults and asked them how much time they spend talking to their neighbors each week.
Here are their findings:
In 2012, 59% of Americans said they spoke to their neighbors regularly. Currently, that number is just 40%.
By age group, the number of respondents aged 65 and over decreased slightly from 63% to 56% during the same period, but the number of respondents aged 18 to 29 decreased significantly from 51% to 25%.
AEI researchers pointed to several reasons why young people don’t have direct connections with their neighbors. They often moved to new towns, grew up during the pandemic or started working remotely, and have never had direct one-on-one contact with colleagues or customers.
Gen Z also prefers to communicate using their mobile phones.
One area where talking to your neighbors can be helpful is church and religious activities. The age group that benefited from this was older Americans, but for the past decade, younger people like Gen Z have not been attending church services regularly.
