The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) commissioned NatCen to carry out the research. The findings which used data from Understanding Society found that chronic loneliness played a significant role in the onset and continuation of mental health distress.
The analysis also showed that mental health distress can play a significant role in the onset and continuation of chronic loneliness. Chronic loneliness is defined as people reporting they ‘often’ or ‘always’ feel lonely.
Key findings
- Young people between 16-34 were found to be particularly at risk, with research showing they were at five times greater risk of chronic loneliness than those aged 65 or older. Drivers of loneliness in young people were identified as negative social experiences, such as bullying from peers and siblings and arguments with parents.
- People with a disability or long standing health condition were 2.9 times more likely to experience chronic loneliness, and were less likely to move out of loneliness than those without a disability.
- Those in the LGBTQ community were also disproportionately affected, with people who identified as gay or lesbian 1.4 times more likely to be lonely, and people who identified as bisexual 2.5 times more likely to be lonely.
- Those in the lowest income quintile were 50 per cent more likely to experience chronic loneliness when compared with the wealthiest quintile.
These findings suggests that targeted early intervention may play a more significant role in combating the effects of loneliness on mental health in the short term.
The Minister for Civil Society and Youth will now bring together ministers from a range of government departments to drive forward a renewed effort to tackle loneliness. The group will develop a delivery plan which will draw on this new evidence and set out new government action on loneliness early next year.
It will build on the 2018 Tackling Loneliness Strategy and the Government’s work to tackle loneliness during the pandemic through its £750 million charity funding package.
Minister for Civil Society and Youth Nigel Huddleston said, “Loneliness can affect all of us and the research published highlights that young and disabled people, alongside those with long-term health conditions, are disproportionately affected by loneliness.”
The Government prioritised tackling loneliness through the pandemic and will now redouble its efforts to protect those most at risk.
Health and wellbeing
