Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

apolloacademy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 116 posts

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#51

Post by latexr »

pavlov wrote: post #7

Is it a bad thing? People's life choices are their own. 29% seems like a fairly neutral number.

> Is it a bad thing?

Considering there are both housing and loneliness crises going on, and that being lonely or socially isolated leads to an early death and radicalisation, I’d say it’s fair to categorise it as a bad thing, yes.

Sure, not every single one of those people living alone will be lonely, but I think it’s fair to deduce that many people who are lonely and isolated live alone.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/health/loneliness-social-isol...

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/other/21402/Delany%...

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#53

Post by JumpCrisscross »

latexr wrote: post #51
pavlov wrote: post #7

Is it a bad thing? People's life choices are their own. 29% seems like a fairly neutral number.

> Is it a bad thing? Considering there are both housing and loneliness crises going on, and that being lonely or socially isolated leads to an early death and radicalisation, I’d say it’s fair to categorise it as a bad thing, yes. Sure, not every single one of those people living alone will be lonely, but I think it’s fair to deduce that many people who are lonely and isolated live alone. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/…

I’d wager it also feeds into the fertility crisis. Roommates are a training ground for living with a partner and potentially family. If someone is living with a non-parent for the first time in their late twenties, there may already be habits or intolerances developed that make dating incredibly difficult.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#54

Post by latexr »

rickydroll wrote: post #49
latexr wrote: post #6

If more people lived together with friends, that’d make a dent in both the housing and loneliness crises.

You know how you can tell if you have a really good friend? They will help you dispose of your roommate's body, 24 by 7, no questions asked.

They might have one question: “How much is the rent and when can I move in?”

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#55

Post by latexr »

expedition32 wrote: post #39
xacky wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then again how many more people would live alone if they could afford to rent or buy on a single income?

Yeah in my country people leave their parents house in their early 20s. Independence and individuality are the foundational bedrock of my culture. But it's getting harder because of the housing market.

> Independence and individuality

Neither are threatened by living with a friend or someone else near your age. Sure, move out of your parents’ home, but that doesn’t mean you have to live alone.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#56

Post by bragh »

latexr wrote: post #51
pavlov wrote: post #7

Is it a bad thing? People's life choices are their own. 29% seems like a fairly neutral number.

> Is it a bad thing? Considering there are both housing and loneliness crises going on, and that being lonely or socially isolated leads to an early death and radicalisation, I’d say it’s fair to categorise it as a bad thing, yes. Sure, not every single one of those people living alone will be lonely, but I think it’s fair to deduce that many people who are lonely and isolated live alone. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/…

The phrasing in your sources is absolutely horrible and brings back high school vibes of "lonely kids are bad because they are lonely, so they must be bullied to make them normal again". Just great.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#57

Post by jltsiren »

b3ing wrote: post #2

Any causes? Is it that we are too independent and don’t like collectivism? A conspiracy might say it’s on purpose to have more people pay for things typically bought for a couple. Like everyone having their own house, cable bill, utility bill, water bill, …

The population is growing older. Young adults rarely live alone, while retirees often do. There are more old people than there used to be, and people often want to continue living in their own home after their spouse dies.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#58

Post by latexr »

lapcat wrote: post #41
latexr wrote: post #6

If more people lived together with friends, that’d make a dent in both the housing and loneliness crises.

Part of the loneliness crisis is the difficulty of making friends. This reminds me, yesterday I was walking down the hallway of my apartment building, and one of my neighbors passed by me but neglected to even acknowledge my existence, because their head was down staring at their smartphone.

> Part of the loneliness crisis is the difficulty of making friends.

Sharing a house is a good way to combat that. Sometimes you move in with people you tangentially know. Sometimes you won’t be huge friends with them but can still interact, or may even meet some of their friends and hit it off.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#59

Post by cj »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43

When I was a twentysomething, I had roommates. This saved money on rent and bulk purchases (which let me spend more time having fun and save money) and provided a starter-kit social circle in a new city. It also honed conflict-resolution skills and ability to be civil. And when I got a partner, it made moving in together smoother. Something I’ve noticed recently is many college graduates living alone. That’s fine. Bu…

oh man, you just gave me a flashback to my roommates a decade ago changing my WiFi router password since they thought I was working too much. That was not my finest moment as far as practicing conflict resolution goes :)

But that’s also the point. Low risk situation to practice things that later in life become much higher risk. Better to figure out how to cohabitate with a few random roommates than a SO down the road.

Re: 40M Americans Live Alone, 29% of households

#60

Post by AnimalMuppet »

latexr wrote: post #54
rickydroll wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know how you can tell if you have a really good friend? They will help you dispose of your roommate's body, 24 by 7, no questions asked.

They might have one question: “How much is the rent and when can I move in?”

If you just murdered your roommate, I'm not sure I'm in a rush to become your next roommate...
Post reply on HN