How often feels lonely
Datafile
Index terms
Variable note:
The questions used to output levels of loneliness in Understanding Society come from the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised principle of loneliness. This means the outputs are comparable with other surveys that use this principle. The GSS has a guidance page which may be useful to understand what other data can and cannot be compared with this output.
For Wave 12, all variables in the Self-Completion Loneliness Module (sclackcom, scleftout, scisolate and sclonely) were introduced from interview months starting from July 2020 (sample month "aug yr1"). This affects the number of inapplicable and missing data reported in each. Additionally, it should be noted that value -9 (missing) for these variables should have been coded as -8 (inapplicable).
For all waves where these questions are asked (9, 10, 11, 12, 13), except for the additional issue with Wave 12, if the routing indicates that the respondent should have answered the question but didnt, then its coded as -9 "missing" when the interview is conducted via computer-assisted web (CAWI).
Question asked in the latest wave:
scaloneliness_w14.sclonely
Question label:
How often feels lonely
Question text:
How often do you feel lonely?
Question universe:
if (GRIDVARIABLES.ModeType = 1 & CASISTART.scac = 1 thru 3) | GRIDVARIABLES.ModeType = 2|3 (Mode is face-to-face and has agreed to self-completion OR mode is telephone or web)
Further details:
For further details about this question, please see the questionnaires
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 88 | 0.25% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 534 | 1.51% |
| proxy | -7 | 134 | 0.38% |
| refusal | -2 | 269 | 0.76% |
| don't know | -1 | 73 | 0.21% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 20303 | 57.24% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 11010 | 31.04% |
| Often | 3 | 3060 | 8.63% |
| Total | 35471 | 100.0% |
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 107 | 0.38% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 119 | 0.43% |
| proxy | -7 | 104 | 0.37% |
| refusal | -2 | 218 | 0.78% |
| don't know | -1 | 61 | 0.22% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 16378 | 58.5% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 8722 | 31.15% |
| Often | 3 | 2289 | 8.18% |
| Total | 27998 | 100.0% |
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 4734 | 16.17% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 5280 | 18.04% |
| proxy | -7 | 198 | 0.68% |
| refusal | -2 | 154 | 0.53% |
| don't know | -1 | 48 | 0.16% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 11065 | 37.8% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 6205 | 21.2% |
| Often | 3 | 1587 | 5.42% |
| Total | 29271 | 100.0% |
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 78 | 0.24% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 625 | 1.95% |
| proxy | -7 | 464 | 1.45% |
| refusal | -2 | 215 | 0.67% |
| don't know | -1 | 75 | 0.23% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 18646 | 58.25% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 9497 | 29.67% |
| Often | 3 | 2408 | 7.52% |
| Total | 32008 | 100.0% |
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 72 | 0.21% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 1181 | 3.44% |
| proxy | -7 | 804 | 2.34% |
| refusal | -2 | 118 | 0.34% |
| don't know | -1 | 52 | 0.15% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 19798 | 57.69% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 9821 | 28.62% |
| Often | 3 | 2473 | 7.21% |
| Total | 34319 | 100.0% |
| Value label | Value | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| missing | -9 | 82 | 0.23% |
| inapplicable | -8 | 1323 | 3.67% |
| proxy | -7 | 1096 | 3.04% |
| refusal | -2 | 105 | 0.29% |
| don't know | -1 | 33 | 0.09% |
| Hardly ever or never | 1 | 21219 | 58.85% |
| Some of the time | 2 | 9536 | 26.45% |
| Often | 3 | 2664 | 7.39% |
| Total | 36058 | 100.0% |
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