Gen X — the Loneliest Generation
Why the latchkey generation is the one most likely to come home to nobody
Reading: Gen X Women Are the Loneliest Generation · Bolde
The Gen X formula worked for a long time. Self-sufficiency, a few close friends, a career that rewarded the head-down kind of work, a family arrangement that absorbed most of the social hours. The math added up through the thirties and into the forties.
What the math did not account for is that friendship needs maintenance the way a roof does. Without weekly contact, without the small ridiculous reasons to call, the structure stays standing for years and then suddenly does not. The latchkey kids became latchkey adults, and the door they let themselves into is increasingly empty.
The good news is that this is fixable, and it is being talked about more honestly than it used to be. The first step is naming it.