In both the very early days of a book project and in the very late stages, authors are encouraged to answer some version of the following question: Why should this book exist? It can be a difficult question to answer.
When my publicist for Generation Uncoupled prodded me to think about how I might answer this question, my first thought was: inertia. This book is the product of years of polling research and focus groups on a variety of topics, including dating, friendship and loneliness, changes in American family life, and trends in civic and associational belonging. The very first survey I conducted after arriving at AEI more than 7 years ago focused on dating and politics. In 2021, we conducted the first major study on the state of American friendship in decades and introduced the concept of the “friendship recession.” A year later, our polls started to reveal growing cultural and political divisions between young men and women. In many ways, the book was a culmination of these seemi…
