Richard Reeves

But if you then add class to the mix and you add geography to the mix, that's just not true.

So let's be led by the data.

It's partly true, but it's a great example of what we were just talking about, which is the difference between class and gender as well.

And it is something that I have had to change my mind on as the data has come in, honestly, because in my book and in the early parts of my work, I was very much talking about the male loneliness problem.

And through a very gendered lens.

And there are some surveys showing that loneliness rates are higher among men.

But we've published work on this now looking at a much wider range of surveys.

And we don't find much of a gender gap.

We do find a big class gap.

It's more of a class story than a gender story with those without college degrees being much more likely to be lonely than those with college degrees.

And so, again, who are we thinking about here?

Who are we really worried about?

Are we worried about our son who hasn't made friends in his dorm room at college?

Sure, that's a worry that every parent might have.

The deep loneliness is actually among those with less economic power.

There is somewhat more social isolation among men, which is a little bit different to loneliness because that's a subjective sense that you report on.

And it does look to me as if male...

friendship male socialization in the sense of kind of connection does seem to require more institutional support than female again at the average right it's like I mean stereotypically like when I'm thinking about myself my own friends like we have to do something

together, right?

I can't just say, hey, let's meet for a coffee.