The death of partying in the USA

Major Drivers of the Decline

• Many argue the trend predates COVID and tracks closely with smartphones/social media: time that once went to hanging out is now spent doomscrolling, gaming, and short‑form video. Social “muscles” atrophy and online hostility makes contact feel riskier.
• Others emphasize urban form and car dependence: separated land uses, long drives, lack of walkable third places, and no safe way to drink without driving reduce casual drop‑ins and bar/house-party culture.
• Legal and liability changes matter: harsh DUI enforcement, fear of being charged for supplying alcohol to minors, cameras and social-media permanence (employers, “social credit”), and school/child‑welfare scrutiny make parties feel high‑stakes.
• Economic stress and overwork: dual-income norms, long commutes, side jobs, expensive childcare and housing leave adults too tired to host or go out. When budgets are tight, partying is an obvious cut.

Parenting, Childhood, and Over‑Scheduling

• Commenters repeatedly cite the death of free‑range childhood: kids rarely roam, neighbors call police or CPS, car-seat rules complicate carpooling, and play is now “playdates” requiring parental logistics.
• Heavy youth sports and extracurricular schedules (often multiple teams plus travel) crowd out unstructured social time.
• Parents are more anxious and risk‑averse, yet also lonelier; some push kids into activities to keep them “off screens,” others default to devices because everything else feels fraught and exhausting.

Neighborhoods and Community

• Many describe suburbs where no one knows neighbors, Halloween is dead, and garages stay closed; contrast with immigrant or older communities where open garages, porches, and informal drop‑ins still create lively micro‑societies.
• Housing is debated: some say lack of affordable, stable housing and tiny rentals kill hosting; others counter that parties have always happened in small apartments and that ownership rates haven’t changed enough to explain the drop.

Redefining Socializing and Measurement

• Several note that surveys of “attending or hosting a party” miss game nights, small dinners, bowling, online gaming, Discord hangouts, raves, conventions, and other modern forms of socializing.
• Charts by age bracket rather than birth cohort and ambiguous categories (e.g., “childcare” hours) are questioned; some see more re-labeling of behavior than total disappearance.

COVID and Risk Perception

• COVID is seen as an accelerator, not origin: lockdowns disrupted habits and introduced fear of physical proximity and infecting vulnerable relatives.
• There’s disagreement over how rational that fear was for the young, but broad agreement that it further nudged already‑fragile in‑person social life toward screens.