AARP’s 2025 Friendship Study found that 77 percent of adults say their closest friends are within 15 years of their own age, and only 22 percent reported having one or more close intergenerational friendships, defined as friendships with someone at least 15 years older or younger.
That compares with 37 percent who reported such friendships in a 2019 AARP survey on the same topic , a 15-point decline in roughly half a decade.
A friendship study built on fresh national data
The AARP research drew on a nationally representative online survey of 1,488 U.S. adults age 18 and older, conducted from October 23 to November 10, 2025, with data weighted by generation to reflect the U.S. adult population. The study also included 45-minute online qualitative interviews with pairs of close friends, covering both same-age and intergenerational friendships.
The full report was published by AARP Research in March 2026.
What drove the drop in cross-generational ties
The past five years have brought major disruptions, an isolating pandemic, rapid technology adoption and a strained political climate, yet adults report finding ways to keep friendships going. The data suggest, however, that maintaining bonds across age gaps proved harder than preserving same-generation relationships.
According to AARP’s 2019 survey, nearly four in ten adults had at least one intergenerational friendship; people most often met those friends at work (26%), in their neighborhood (12%), at church or temple (11%), or through mutual friends (10%).
Extended remote and hybrid work patterns since 2020 likely reduced the incidental, repeated contact that tends to seed those bonds.
The drop mirrors a broader contraction in social networks. Research by the Survey Center on American Life shows that Americans report having fewer close friendships than they once did, and the share of people saying they have no close friends at all went from just 3 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 2021.
As overall networks thin, the rarer cross-generational ties appear to be the first to fall away. Americans are spending markedly less time socializing in person than they did in earlier decades, with the American Time Use Survey documenting a particularly steep drop among young people in the 2010s as screen time rose.
Benefits that fewer adults are accessing
Adults with friends from different generations view their own health and attitudes toward aging more positively and are less likely to say they feel left out or isolated, though AARP describes this as a correlation, not as proof that intergenerational friendship leads to better health.
From the younger person’s perspective, Americans say older friends provide another perspective in 61 percent of cases, inspire them in 44 percent of cases, and serve as role models in 40 percent of cases.
From the older person’s view, younger friends help them see another perspective in 54 percent of cases, give them a greater appreciation for their own experiences in 37 percent of cases, and allow them to share opinions and insights in 37 percent of cases.
When these intergenerational connections do form, they are not fleeting: the average length of a close intergenerational friendship is 11 years, with one in five lasting more than 20 years. That durability rivals or exceeds many same-age friendships, which researchers note tend to dissolve more readily after major life transitions such as job changes or moves.
The prevalence of intergenerational friendships, and widespread openness to forming new ones, point to meaningful opportunities to support stronger social connection across ages, AARP researchers concluded.
Where the openness still exists
Despite the decline in actual intergenerational ties, willingness to form them has not disappeared. The same survey found that a majority of adults expressed openness to building friendships outside their age bracket, particularly through shared activities and community settings.
Research into neighborhood familiarity shows that only about a quarter of Americans say they know most of their neighbors , eroding one of the classic engines of casual friendship: repeated, low-stakes contact. Venues such as recreational sports and community leagues have emerged as alternative spaces where age-mixed groups gather regularly, potentially filling part of the gap.
Social researchers point out that intentional effort matters more than proximity alone. Challenges to forming new friendships include lacking regular encounters with others due to structures of school or work, or having quit social media and lost touch, while some report being disappointed by past friendships or prioritizing other commitments.
For those who are already navigating shrinking friend groups, the AARP 2025 Friendship Study data suggest that deliberately seeking out friendships across age lines could meaningfully offset the trend, delivering connections that tend to be both enriching and long-lasting.
