Generation Uncoupled:
America's New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection
A sweeping and empathetic portrait of the new gender divide, from a top pollster and cultural commentator—with key insights into what the gap means for the future of relationships, family life, and democracy.
“Cox’s study offers a compassionate, clear-eyed view of civic breakdown and practical solutions to end social atomization. Essential reading for those seeking to help younger generations heal the gender divisions that have fractured them.”
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What People Are Saying
“In this well-written book, Daniel Cox combines creative empirical research with thoughtful reflections about where this relational crisis is leading and what we should do about it. Regardless of your politics, if you’re concerned about the future of America—and who isn’t? — this book is a must-read.”
Robert D. Putnam, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Kennedy School, bestselling author of Bowling Alone
“With a wealth of data and deft touch of a highly trained social scientist, Daniel Cox describes in careful detail the social atomization of modern America. But beyond that, he also offers a pathway forward that focuses on curiosity, kindness, and a real desire to cultivate community again. Generation Uncoupled is essential reading to understand how we got into this mess and what it will take to get us out of it.”
Ryan Burge, Professor of Practice, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University
“The history of humanity has been one of people coming together, creating families, and shaping the next generation. How did we get to a place where young people are turning away from that project? From the political divides disrupting dating lives, the cultural expectations weighing on parents, and the technologies warping our sense of reality, Daniel Cox examines how we arrived here and what it might take to fix it.”
Kristen Soltis Anderson, founding partner of Echelon Insights and author of The Selfie Vote
Speaking Schedule
Past event: October 14, 2026
American Enterprise Institute
Washington, DC
Past event: October 29, 2026
Politics & Prose
Washington, DC
November 5th, 2026
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
November 12, 2026
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
December 2nd, 2026
Braver Angels
Village Underground, New York, NY
Generation Uncoupled in the News
New York Times
We Called Back Young Men Who Voted for Trump. He’s Losing Them.
While young men “might be drawn to an economic agenda that’s more Democratic, they have questions about whether they would be welcomed and wanted in the Democratic coalition,” said Daniel Cox, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank, and author of “Generation Uncoupled: America’s New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection.”
Washington Examiner
‘Generation Uncoupled’ presents a bleak view of male-female relations
Cox tells us the opening chapters of his book are “meant to instill a sense of urgency about the fraying of our relational lives.” And in those chapters, he thoroughly establishes how our “most critical relational experiences are disappearing” and that “without a course correction, we face social starvation at a societal level.”
WIRED
A Dating App Is Offering ‘Chivalry Mode’ and ‘Marriage Timeline’ to Get Gen Z Married
In his book, Cox argues that Gen Z is entering adulthood with a less clear sense of their “relational priorities,” and a decline in social and civic life has given rise to a “hyperindividualistic culture” that doesn’t always prioritize things like marriage. As a result, fewer Gen Zs are coupling up today.
Commentary
The Gender Silos
In his remarkable new book, Generation Uncoupled, Daniel Cox, my colleague at AEI and the director of the Survey Center on American Life, cites a particularly worrying survey he conducted recently that demonstrates this deep and hostile divide, and it has nothing to do with politics or sex.
Deseret News
For Gen Z, an awkward moment can live forever
Ask Daniel Cox what’s happening with older teens and young adults in the U.S. and he’ll tell you that the real story is what’s not happening. They’re not dating, going to parties or hanging out with friends. Nor are they routinely working a part-time job or embracing a faith community.
The Free Press
How Modern Dating Left Ordinary Men Behind
A couple years ago, I worked on a major national study on the state of dating, which developed an extensive set of personal qualities that Americans deemed important for a romantic partner to possess. In a list of nearly 20 attributes, there was one that stood out for single women looking for a long-term partner or spouse: employment status.
Derek Thompson
Why Americans Stopped Falling in Love
If the decline of coupling is upstream of both falling births and falling happiness, then the most important question is what’s happening at the source. In his new book Generation Uncoupled, Daniel Cox, a public opinion researcher and director of the Survey Center on American Life, considers a range of causes that span technology, culture, media, economics, and politics. In today’s interview, we talk about all of that.
New York Post
Gen Z thinks they’re so special, they can’t even deal with romantic relationships
Cox, who is director of the Survey Center on American Life, has a treasure trove of data to back up his point, and the surveys make clear that young people simply aren’t prioritizing relationships and partnership as previous generations once did.
The New York Times
‘Attention Infidelity’ Is Ruining Romance
From the pollster and public opinion researcher Daniel Cox’s forthcoming book, “Generation Uncoupled: America’s New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection,” I learned a new term: “attention infidelity.” Cox defines it in a somewhat unusual and expansive way: when a partner’s digital life intrudes on an in-person connection.
Vox
It's not your imagination — dating has gotten way more combative lately
“There’s a growing discomfort with the normal friction, that if you say or do the wrong thing, it’s cringe, it’s disqualifiable; there’s no appetite for any kind of misstep,” Daniel Cox, the director of the Survey Center on American Life and author of Generation Uncoupled: America’s New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection, told Vox.
American Storylines
A Generation Uncoupled
Without going into too much detail, here is what I can tell you about the book. Generation Uncoupled...
