The Downside to Staying Home

Blame the pandemic. Blame rising prices. Whatever the reason, Americans are increasingly staying home, which might be good for the wallet, but not so great for the person or the country, writer and urban policy specialist Diana Lind argues at the Washington Post, noting this "great retreat" into "hermitage" should not go without examination. Firstly, Lind points out just how much our habits have changed: Survey data indicates Americans are "voluntarily spending an extra covid lockdown worth of time each year in the house—more than three weeks" compared with two decades ago.

That comes with costs: People hanging out at home are likely to be "alone and sedentary, triggering two of Americans' biggest mental and physical health problems—social isolation and lack of exercise," Lind notes. As people spend less time out in the world developing community, there's more justification for doing away with libraries, parks, and other public institutions, Lind adds. But this also puts an undue burden on people without stable housing, "who are more excluded than ever from a society that's happening behind closed doors." Her conclusion: "We should treat 'getting out' as a necessary health intervention rather than an optional luxury or a work burden." Read the full piece here.