Lonely in your 20s? Join the club
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Your average Quarter Life event. Photo: Courtesy of Madi Lamb
More than half of Gen Z is lonely, and a Kansas City social club believes the cure is the same thing that scares them most: walking into a room of strangers alone.
Why it matters: Loneliness isn't just a feeling. It carries the same mortality risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to the Surgeon General.
By the numbers: 61% of young people ages 13 to 24 say loneliness takes a toll on their mental health, and 35% say it disrupts their daily life, per a Hopelab and Data for Progress survey shared with Axios.
- Cigna's Loneliness in America 2025 survey found 57% of Americans feel lonely, with Gen Zers and millennials clocking the highest rates of any generation.
- The drivers: remote work, dwindling in-person interaction and a convenience economy that lets you skip leaving the house entirely.
Driving the news: Enter Quarter Life Club, founded in 2024 by KC native Madi Lamb after her own quarter-life crisis hit at 25.
- She'd left KC for New York with a fresh start in mind. Six months in, she realized she still didn't know a soul.
- "Welcome to your quarter-life crisis," her therapist told her. "Everyone goes through this."
- So Lamb started hosting casual meetups for fellow 20-somethings who wanted a real connection, not just glances across a bar, for $4.99 a month. It worked.
State of play: Quarter Life now hosts three to four meetups a month at bars, bowling alleys and rooftops across the city.
- The execution is simple: name tags with conversation starters, red stickers on first-timers so regulars know to introduce themselves and a tacit agreement that nobody walks in to be ignored.
What they're saying: Lamb said she drew the design from an unlikely place: the dating app Hinge.
- She said, "When you're on the app, you know everyone's intention is the same. With that same mentality, we are not a dating community. But everyone intends to meet people."
- "Most people in their 20s are afraid to admit they're lonely, but we are, and it's okay to say it. People will chat with AI before they chat with their friends."
💭 My thought bubble: I joined last year, and at my first meetup, I knew zero people. Now I have a best friend who always saves me a seat.
The bottom line: Lamb said she hopes more clubs keep popping up.
- "If you're doing it with a pure heart, it's just adding goodness to the world."
What's next: If you're interested in what the next event is, join Quarter Life through the Circle App.