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A Data for Progress survey that replicated earlier lifestyle questions found that 12% of Americans said they hosted friends or family at home at least monthly in 2026, compared with 42% in 1975. The figures point to a long decline in home gatherings, though the report’s proposed explanations do not establish why the change occurred.
A Data for Progress survey found that 12% of Americans said they hosted friends or family at home at least monthly in 2026, down from 42% in 1975, according to a report by Derek Thompson. The comparison suggests that regular home gatherings have become much less common over five decades, though it does not establish what caused the decline.
Data for Progress replicated questions from the DDB Needham Life Style surveys used in earlier research on American social life. Thompson said the polling group shared its findings with him. The reported comparison combines survey results from different years to track how often people host friends or family at home.
The 2026 figure of 12% refers specifically to Americans who reported hosting at least monthly. The corresponding share was 42% in 1975, a decline of 30 percentage points. Thompson describes that change as a 70% drop over a half-century. The result measures reported hosting frequency; it does not count the number of gatherings or people attending them.
The report also describes declines since 1995 in the share of people who said they had hosted guests or attended a dinner party, as well as drops in several other social activities, including playing cards, going to bars, attending sporting events, volunteering and working on community projects. Thompson reports these as findings from the replicated survey questions, but the supplied material does not give the underlying sample sizes, margins of error or detailed year-by-year results.
Fewer Gatherings in American Homes
The figures suggest a change in a routine way people maintain friendships and family ties: inviting others into the home. Regular hosting can create time for conversation and shared meals, so a decline may mean fewer occasions for face-to-face contact. The survey, however, records reported behavior; it does not measure loneliness, friendship quality or the effects of hosting on health.
The report argues that fewer home gatherings cannot simply be explained by people moving their social lives to restaurants or bars. It points to broader declines in face-to-face socializing and to an increase in people eating alone reported by the restaurant industry. Those points add context, but the material provided does not include detailed restaurant data or a direct accounting of where social time has gone.
The results also complicate the idea that more exercise, concerts or travel necessarily replace time spent with friends. Thompson notes that some activities have grown more common, while arguing that exercise can be solitary and time spent at home has risen since the 2010s. These observations do not show that every person is socializing less; they indicate that the reported survey measures moved downward.
From Dinner Parties to 2026
The report places the latest comparison within a longer-running debate about Americans’ social connections. In his 2000 book Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam described a steep decline in social participation and warned that visiting friends might disappear from American life if the trend continued. Thompson’s account says the share giving or attending a monthly dinner party fell by half between 1975 and 1998, while the share who never entertained at home tripled.
The 2026 comparison extends that timeline using questions modeled on the earlier DDB Needham survey. That approach offers a way to compare reported habits across decades, though survey wording, sampling and other methodological details matter when interpreting long-term comparisons. The supplied report does not provide enough technical information to assess those factors independently.
Thompson also discusses changes in work and household responsibilities as possible explanations. He cites the rise in women’s labor-force participation, from more than half of women ages 25 to 54 in 1970 to near 80% today, and argues that men did not take on an equal share of the planning that supports social gatherings. The report presents this as an interpretation of social change, not as a cause demonstrated by the hosting survey.
What the Survey Cannot Explain
The reported figures show a decline in monthly hosting, but they do not identify its cause. Thompson offers several explanations, including busier leisure time and changes in household labor, but the survey comparison described in the report cannot establish that those factors drove the shift.
The supplied material does not include the full questionnaire, sample sizes, margins of error, response rates or a breakdown by age, income, household type or region. It is also unclear how closely the 2026 sample and survey conditions match those in 1975. Those details would help readers judge the precision and comparability of the figures.
The measure concerns hosting friends or family at home at least monthly. It does not capture every informal visit, phone or online contact, or the quality of relationships. The reported decline therefore should not be read as proof that all forms of social contact fell at the same rate.
More Detail Needed on the Trend
The immediate next step for readers assessing the result is access to the survey’s full methodology and tables, including question wording, sample information and uncertainty estimates. Such details would help clarify how the 2026 findings compare with the earlier survey waves and whether the shift differs across groups.
Further survey rounds could show whether monthly hosting continues to fall, stabilizes or recovers. Until comparable data are available, the report’s central finding remains a snapshot in a long-run comparison: fewer Americans reported hosting friends or family at home monthly in 2026 than in 1975. The reasons for that change, and whether other forms of in-person socializing offset it, remain unresolved.
Key Questions
What did the 2026 survey find?
12% of Americans said they hosted friends or family at home at least monthly, according to the comparison reported by Derek Thompson.
How does that compare with 1975?
The reported share was 42% in 1975, a difference of 30 percentage points. Thompson characterizes the decline as 70% over the half-century.
Does the survey show why hosting declined?
No. The comparison measures reported hosting frequency. The report discusses possible explanations, including work demands and household planning, but does not establish that they caused the decline.
Does less home hosting mean people socialize less overall?
The report describes declines in several other social activities and argues that gatherings have not simply shifted to restaurants. The material provided does not account for all forms of social contact or prove that every group socializes less.
Source: hn
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