36%
2024 (latest)
SOCIAL EVENINGS WITH FRIENDS AT LEAST SEVERAL TIMES A MONTH
percent of valid weighted adult responses · 1974–2024 · neither direction is "better" · computed from the NORC General Social Survey cumulative microdata (WTSSPS-weighted shares)
42%
1974
47%
high · 2002
29%
low · 2021
−6.0 pts
since 1974
┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. Computed from cumulative Stata public microdata, WTSSPS-weighted numerator divided by valid weighted denominator, minimum 200 weighted responses per year. SOCFREND positive codes 1,2,3 (almost daily; once or twice a week; several times a month); valid codes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Missing years are not interpolated. SOCFREND concerns evenings with friends outside the neighborhood. Breaks: 2021 push-to-web pandemic design; 2022 and 2024 mixed mode differ from historical in-person interviews.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://gss.norc.org/content/dam/gss/get-the-data/documents/stata/GSS_stata.zip
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Family-And-Society
Data
| Year | Social evenings with friends at least several times a month | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 36% | −2.6 pts |
| 2022 | 39% | +10 pts |
| 2021 | 29% | −11 pts |
| 2018 | 40% | +0.2 pts |
| 2016 | 40% | −2.8 pts |
| 2014 | 43% | −1.7 pts |
| 2012 | 45% | −0.0 pts |
| 2010 | 45% | +0.8 pts |
| 2008 | 44% | +0.7 pts |
| 2006 | 43% | +2.0 pts |
| 2004 | 41% | −6.2 pts |
| 2002 | 47% | +4.0 pts |
| 2000 | 43% | +0.9 pts |
| 1998 | 42% | −2.1 pts |
| 1996 | 44% | +0.4 pts |
| 1994 | 44% | −0.5 pts |
| 1993 | 45% | +0.3 pts |
| 1991 | 44% | +2.5 pts |
| 1990 | 42% | +1.8 pts |
| 1989 | 40% | −2.4 pts |
| 1988 | 42% | +1.2 pts |
| 1986 | 41% | −2.9 pts |
| 1985 | 44% | +1.3 pts |
| 1983 | 43% | −1.1 pts |
| 1982 | 44% | +0.0 pts |
| 1978 | 44% | +0.1 pts |
| 1977 | 44% | +4.3 pts |
| 1975 | 39% | −3.1 pts |
| 1974 | 42% | — |
Also in Family & Society