Gallup — Younger men in the U.S. among the loneliest in the West

What the study found

Drawing on Gallup World Poll data collected across 2023 and 2024, this Gallup analysis measured how often people said they had felt lonely for a lot of the previous day. Among US men aged 15 to 34, 25% reported feeling lonely, compared with 18% of young US women and a national average of 18%. The median for younger men across OECD countries was 15%, and Gallup reports that no other OECD country has a larger gap between its young men (25%) and the rest of its adult population (17%) than the United States. ^[1]

Why it matters here

The manosphere often points to a "male loneliness epidemic" as a driver of young men's grievances. This Gallup analysis offers cross-national survey data suggesting that loneliness among young US men is both comparatively high and unusually skewed toward that group relative to the rest of the adult population. It does not itself explain the causes of that pattern or endorse any particular remedy; it measures how widespread self-reported loneliness is and how the United States compares with other wealthy countries. It is cited on is there a male loneliness epidemic? as survey evidence on how loneliness is distributed among young men.