An analysis of U.S. Census data has revealed that around 10% of Gen Zers reported having no face-to-face interactions with others each day. According to a recent study, this group, aged 23 to 29, never fully recovered from pandemic-induced isolation.
In 2019, the year before the pandemic, according to the annual American Time Use Survey, only 3% of young people did not regularly socialize in person. However, by late 2021, when restrictions were relaxed, nearly 9% of young people had stopped regularly socializing in person. Then, after peaking at 10% in 2023, the percentage gradually decreased in 2024 and 2025, but it was still significantly higher than pre-pandemic numbers.
Before the pandemic forced them to restrict in-person contact, young adults who were highly socially active spent 87% of their day with others. This percentage dropped to 78% during the pandemic, and rose back up to 83% in 2025. In contrast, the percentage of people who used to spend around one-third of their day with others fell to zero and has remained unchanged.
Also, the survey found that the average time people spend socializing per day has fallen from 45 to 35 minutes over the last 20 years. However, young people have seen the biggest decline: those aged 15 to 24 now spend 35 minutes a day hanging out with others instead of an hour.
Did people just get used to avoiding face-to-face interaction during the pandemic?
So did Gen Zers just choose to be less sociable? Not necessarily, says one expert.
“I would be a little careful about saying that Gen Z has ‘chosen’ to stay away from people,” Dr Munia Bhattacharya, Senior Consultant Psychologist, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Gurugram, told WION. “Human behavior is rarely that simple. Sometimes we don’t consciously choose isolation. We slowly get used to it. COVID may have been a major turning point in that process.”
Of course, the American Time Use Survey also shows that Americans use screens more often than they did in 2015. The amount of time spent on computers and social media each day increased from 25 minutes ten years ago to 37 minutes in 2025.
Also, unless trends change, face-to-face social interaction will only decline further as time goes on, because teenagers spend the most time on screens, averaging 90 minutes a day.