House of Commons Library, August 2019
The government’s Loneliness Strategy was published in October 2018. It set out a wide variety of cross-departmental measures that the government would take to provide ‘national leadership’ to tackle loneliness in England. This briefing: explains the Strategy; the steps taken so far by the government; looks at research into the causes and impact of loneliness and possible interventions; and briefly outlines the situation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The briefing is accompanied by a reading list. The latest official figures suggest that just under half of adults in England experience loneliness occasionally or more often. The proportion of adults reporting that they often or always feel lonely (6%) shows little variation by gender or by region, but the data does suggest that younger people are more likely to report feeling frequently lonely. Certain groups are also associated with an increased risk of loneliness, such as those with a longterm disability, widowed homeowners, unmarried middle-agers, and young renters. Studies have found links between loneliness (or social isolation) and poorer health outcomes, such as early death, higher rates of depression and cognitive decline. This may lead to higher costs in the public and private sector due to greater service usage, absences and productivity losses.
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