Kat,

The book deals with the decline in participation in most community organizations since the 40s & 50s. Shut-ins shouldn't be a major factor in the numbers since the percentage of shut-ins probably has increased in the population. Instead, the population increased while the real numbers of people participating declined.

Surprisingly, one of the first causes the author mentions was a decline in dinner parties. As more women worked outside the home, fewer were left with the time and energy to put on parties. Those left were burdened with too many parties to handle so they too dropped out of the party circuit. Now we've altered our habits to frozen dinners and fast food joints where we gobble food quickly without taking time to chew, let alone scintillating conversation.

Does this ring true to you?