Americans’ shrinking social lives weaken community ties

Americans host guests at home far less often than in previous decades, a decline that has weakened social cohesion, Kristjan Port writes in a commentary for ERR’s R2 Portal.

Port points to sociologist Robert Putnam’s account in “Bowling Alone,” which traced the thinning of close relationships to the 1970s. The article says Americans now host guests at home more than 70 percent less often than they did decades ago. It also notes that dinner gatherings are 20 percent less frequent than the low point Putnam described in the 1990s.

For much of the country’s history, civic life relied heavily on voluntary groups rather than state institutions. People formed clubs, charities, sports leagues, unions, neighbourhood committees, parent organisations and churches to meet shared needs.

Regular meetings in places such as churches, schools and bowling alleys helped people learn to trust and work with one another, Port writes. Putnam distinguished between social ties that connect family and friends and those that bridge different parts of society.