Rich Americans aren't only getting richer. They're becoming more isolated from the rest of America, too.
Rich Americans spend less time socializing with their family and neighbors — although they do spend more time socializing with friends.
The study is part of a growing body of research that suggests a yawning gap between what it means to be rich and poor in the United States.
In addition to looking at evenings spent socializing, the authors also examined how a typical day plays out for Americans at different income levels. They found that people with higher incomes spent an estimated 10 minutes more alone in a day, 22 minutes more with friends, and 26 minutes fewer with family than people with lower incomes.
Rising affluence, Bianchi suggested, has pushed forward "individualization" — an idea that political scientist Robert Putnam wrote about in his seminal work Bowling Alone, which began as a 1995 essay and turned into a book in 2000.
Putnam argues there that the individualization of leisure time is in part responsible for a decline in civic participation.
"I've always been struck by the idea that we've become wealthier as a country and by many metrics less happy, less involved in our communities, and certainly interacting less," she said. "That's been a puzzle to many scholars and something that's always captured my attention and interest. I see this as a small piece of understanding that."
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Category(s):Social Isolation
Source material from Vox
