Pew: Older adults alone half their waking hours

Older adults across America on average spend more than half of their waking hours alone, according to a new report from Pew Research, and that could be linked to "negative health outcomes."

The organization analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Americans ages 60 and older are alone for more than half of their daily measured time – which includes all waking hours except those spent engaged in personal activities such as grooming. All told, this amounts to about seven hours a day; and among those who live by themselves, alone time rises to over 10 hours a day," Pew said.

People in their 40s and 50s "spend about 4 hours and 45 minutes alone, and those younger than 40 spend about three and a half hours a day alone, on average."

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Some older Americans, about one in seven, say they are alone all their daily measured time, Pew reported.

"While time spent alone is not necessarily associated with adverse effects, it can be used as a measure of social isolation, which in turn is linked with negative health outcomes among older adults," the report said.

"Medical experts suspect that lifestyle factors may explain some of this association – for instance, someone who is socially isolated may have less cognitive stimulation and more difficulty staying active or taking their medications. In some cases, social isolation may mean there is no one on hand to help in case of a medical emergency."

The report noted that people over 60 now are 22 percent of the U.S. population, about 73 million, a share that is expected to rise to 26 percent by 2030.

It said that time alone is linked closely to living arrangements: Those who live alone spend more time alone. In fact, older adults who live alone spent about 10.5 hours alone each day, twice that of those who live with a spouse.

And the older a person is, the more time spent alone.

"People in their 60s report six hours and 32 minutes of alone time, compared with seven hours and 28 minutes for people in their 70s and seven hours and 47 minutes for people ages 80 and older. These age differences are due in part to the fact that that older people are far less likely to live with a spouse or cohabiting partner – 64 percent of those in their 60s do, compared with 59 percent of those in their 70s and 36 percent of those 80 and older."

Older women spend more time alone than older men, which may be explained by the fact that older women "are more likely than men to be involved in activities outside the home such as going to church or volunteering."

"Differences in time spent alone also emerge across educational levels," the Pew report said. "People ages 60 and older who have a high school diploma or less education spend, on average, seven hours and 18 minutes a day alone – about 45 more minutes than their counterparts with a bachelor's degree. These patterns reflect in part the fact that less educated people are less likely to be married and living with a spouse than their more educated counterparts."

The report said, "About half (51 percent) of adults ages 60 and older with a high school diploma are living with a spouse, compared with 59 percent of those with some college education or an associate degree and 67 percent of those with a bachelor's degree."