What Americans say about loneliness
Health What Americans say about loneliness Illustrations by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer June 26, 2025 1 min read Quiz digs into data on major public health concern Research has linked loneliness to a higher risk of disease and premature death, leading in part to the U.S. Surgeon General declaring it an “epidemic” in a 2023 advisory that urged Americans to prioritize social connection and community. In “Loneliness in America: Just the Tip of the Iceberg?,” a report from the Making Caring Common Project at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, researchers found that 21 percent of U.S. adults feel lonely, and many report feeling disconnected from their communities and the world. We asked Milena Batanova, director of research and evaluation at Making Caring Common and one of the authors of “Loneliness in America,” to help us develop the following quiz digging into the survey’s findings. var gform;gform||(document.addEventListener("gform_main_scripts_loaded",function(){gform.scriptsLoaded=!0}),document.addEventListener("gform/theme/scripts_loaded",function(){gform.themeScriptsLoaded=!0}),window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){gform.domLoaded=!0}),gform={domLoaded:!1,scriptsLoaded:!1,themeScriptsLoaded:!1,isFormEditor:()=>"function"==typeof InitializeEditor,callIfLoaded:function(o){return!(!gform.domLoaded||!gform.scriptsLoaded||!gform.themeScriptsLoaded&&!gform.isFormEditor()||(gform.isFormEditor()&&console.warn("The use of gform.initializeOnLoaded() is deprecated in the...