Men aren’t alone in their loneliness epidemic
February 6, 2026
In the Jan. 18 letters package “Get outside — and get outside yourself,” readers shared their antidotes to loneliness. It was interesting that two-thirds of these writers were women. You’ve probably heard about the male loneliness epidemic. Indeed, men report more loneliness than women and are more likely to say they have no close friends. And men are more likely to have no children, which is a predictor for loneliness in old age.
But there is a loneliness epidemic among women, too. Admitting its existence can be taboo when social activists and mass media portray single, childless women as the happiest demographic. However, according to a survey last year by the Institute for Family Studies and the Wheatley Institute, married women with children report being “very happy” at almost double the rate of unmarried women without children. Conversely, almost twice as many unmarried women without children report being lonely as married mothers do. And married women report far higher rates of physical affection, which is linked to greater happiness.
