For the first time, the majority of U.S. adults say they are not getting enough sleep, a recent Gallup poll found.
The sleep poll has been done since 2001. The last poll measured sleep in 2013 and found that 56% of Americans got sleep they needed. The most recent poll found a reversal of those numbers, with 57% saying they needed more sleep.
Here are five other findings:
- The percentage of people getting five hours or less of sleep has risen to 20%, and only a quarter of people are getting eight-plus hours.
- Women consistently report being less likely than men to get enough sleep, with 36% of women (versus 48% of men) saying they get the sleep they need. Both figures are lower than in previous surveys in 2013 and 2004. In 2023, there was a 19-point difference between women and men aged 18 to 49 for those getting enough sleep.
- The populations most likely to get the sleep they need were adults 65 and older and younger adults 18 to 29.
- All groups, except 18- to 29-year-olds, saw sleep declines in excess of 10 percentage points.
- Younger women (age 18-49) saw a drastic drop in the numbers reporting getting the sleep they need, with 42% getting enough in 2001 compared to 27% in 2023.
Americans are also reporting an increase in stress, with 49% of adults reporting frequently experiencing stress. That's up 16 points over the past two decades and the highest in Gallup's data to date.
"Gallup polling and other research show a strong connection between sleep, stress, and overall health," the report said. "Thus, the impact of both of these trends on Americans' health could be substantial. The decline in sleep and the increase in stress levels in the U.S. are consistently worse for younger women than for men and older women. This aligns with Gallup's data on mental health and wellbeing, which show that younger Americans and women seem to be suffering at greater rates."