Alone‑time risen, loneliness stable

Surveys that ask how lonely people feel show little or mixed long‑term increase, but time‑use data reveal a large, sustained rise in time spent alone and with household members only. That divergence means policy should focus on rebuilding opportunities for social contact (places, paid leisure, working patterns) rather than treating a broad mental‑health epidemic. — If true, this reframes public debate and policy from treating youth as clinically lonely to addressing structural causes of social isolation (work, urban design, economic time pressures).