We've Never Been More Alone
The Surgeon General says loneliness now kills like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The youngest generation is the most at risk.
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Straight answers to the questions this essay raises. Open by default, structured for search and AI.
Which generation is the loneliest, and why? +
Loneliness is highest among the youngest adults, not the oldest. The CDC's 2022 analysis found 43.3% of adults ages 18 to 34 reported loneliness, compared to 23.8% of adults 65 and older. Viewed through the Generational Prism, something specific is happening to this cohort rather than simply what happens to young adults at this stage of life.
Did Gen Z's loneliness begin in adulthood or earlier? +
It began earlier. The American Adolescence Survey found that 61% of Gen Z teens reported feeling lonely and isolated often during their adolescence, twice the proportion reported by Baby Boomers at the same stage. Two-thirds of Americans who felt lonely every day during childhood report feeling lonely or isolated most of the time today, suggesting the formation years set the trajectory.
How much have family dinners declined across generations? +
They have fallen steadily. Among the Silent Generation, 84% reported daily family meals growing up, dropping to 76% for Baby Boomers, 59% for Gen X, 46% for Millennials, and 38% for Gen Z. That is a 46-point collapse across four generations in one of the most basic daily rituals of family life.
Are AI companions helping solve the loneliness crisis? +
The research suggests they are deepening it. A NORC at the University of Chicago study found that 72% of U.S. teens have tried an AI companion. Research from MIT and OpenAI found that heavy AI companion users were lonelier, socialized less with real people, and showed more signs of emotional dependence, not less.
Why should leaders care about loneliness at work? +
Because it carries a measurable cost. The Cigna Group estimates that stress-related absence linked to social disconnection costs $154 billion annually in the United States. Every leader managing a team of Gen Z employees is managing people who, statistically, were lonelier as children than any previous generation.
Full show notes
We are the most digitally connected society in human history. We are also, by every measure, the loneliest.
The U.S. Surgeon General compared loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The loneliest adults are not in nursing homes. They are in their twenties and thirties. Generational futurist Ryan Vet unpacks the research behind Gen Z’s loneliness epidemic, why it began in childhood and not in adulthood, and what leaders must understand about the first generation raised inside a connection paradox.
From the collapse of the family dinner to the rise of AI companions, Ryan applies the Generational Prism and the Friction Doctrine to explain why a culture that removes the cost of connection quietly removes the relational growth that only comes through it.
Topics Covered
Why the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemicHow Gen Z became the loneliest generation in American historyThe collapse of the family dinner across four generationsHow AI companions are deepening, not solving, the loneliness crisisWhat every leader managing Gen Z employees needs to understandKey Takeaways
The U.S. Surgeon General compared loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day (2023).43.3% of adults ages 18 to 34 report loneliness, vs 23.8% of adults 65 and older (CDC, 2022).61% of Gen Z teens felt lonely often during adolescence, twice the Boomer rate (Survey Center on American Life, 2023).Family dinners fell from 84% (Silent Gen) to 38% (Gen Z), a 46-point collapse (Institute for Family Studies, 2024).72% of U.S. teens have tried an AI companion. Heavy users are lonelier and more emotionally dependent (Fang et al., MIT/OpenAI, 2025).Stress-related absence linked to social disconnection costs U.S. employers $154 billion annually (Cigna, 2025).Who Should Listen
Leaders managing multi-generational teams, parents raising Gen Alpha and Gen Beta children, HR executives, and anyone trying to understand why hyperconnected generations report record isolation.
Research Cited
U.S. Surgeon General (2023); CDC (2022); Cigna (2025).Institute for Family Studies (2024); Survey Center on American Life (2023).Fang et al., MIT/OpenAI (2025); NORC/TechCrunch (2025).Connect with Ryan Vet
Newsletter (COLLIDE): https://www.RyanVet.com/collideWebsite: https://www.ryanvet.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RyanVetLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanvet/Full essay: https://collide.ryanvet.com/p/we-ve-never-been-more-aloneSend us Fan Mail
About Ryan VetRyan Vet is a USA TODAY bestselling author, futurist, and international keynote speaker whose insights on generations, culture, and the future of work have been featured in Forbes, Financial Times, ABC, NBC, and CBS. His research helps leaders understand emerging generational patterns and anticipate societal shifts before they fully unfold.
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