Loneliness increasing

Washington Post-  Americans are growing lonelier, according to new research released Wednesday, even when they’re not actually alone.

An increasing number of middle-aged and older adults — especially those in their 40s and 50s — are lonely, according to a report released by AARP, a nonprofit advocacy group for older Americans. Among the loneliest are adults 45 to 49 years old (49 percent identified as lonely), as well as respondents who never married (62 percent); are not working (57 percent); or whose household income fell below $25,000 a year (63 percent)....

This year’s report revealed a marked uptick in loneliness: 40 percent of the respondents were lonely, compared with 35 percent in both 2018 and 2010. It also found a new divergence by gender. Some 42 percent of men were lonely this year versus 37 percent for women; the numbers were 34 and 36 percent, respectively, in 2018. And men were more likely than women to report having no close friends.