It is important that local areas identify who is at risk of loneliness in their area, and where there are loneliness hot spots. Sources of information can include Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), and local intelligence and national information such as that provided by the ONS and Age UK.
One of the highest risk factors for experiencing loneliness is age. Around half of people aged 75 or over live alone; 17 per cent are in contact with family, friends and neighbours less than once a week, and for 11 per cent it is less than once a month. Associated risk factors in old age are low income, poor physical or mental health, and living alone in isolated rural areas or in deprived urban communities.
In terms of loneliness, the pandemic has had a direct impact on the groups listed above. The pandemic is also likely to have exacerbated the problems faced by those who were previously most at risk and be more prevalent amongst groups facing exclusion, including because of ethnicity, sexuality, disability or other factors.
Loneliness is also prevalent in other age groups. Risk factors for adults of working age are similar to those for older people – unemployment, being female, never being married, being bereaved , poor support network, long term physical or mental health, disability, and cognitive impairment. Risk factors often overlap and reflect many of the social determinants that lead to health inequalities.
A significant number of young parents have also reported being always or often lonely. Recent research shows that a 82 per cent per cent of mothers under 30 feel lonely some of the time while more than four in 10 are lonely often or always. Single parents have also been identified as experiencing loneliness, with studies showing between 8% and 21% of single parents reporting feeling lonely.
By using personal characteristics and circumstances that increase or reduce the likelihood of experiencing loneliness, the ONS identified three distinct profiles of people at particular risk from loneliness:
- widowed homeowners living alone with long-term health conditions
- unmarried, middle-age people with long-term health conditions
- young renters with little trust and sense of belonging to their area.
It has also been clear for some time that children and young people struggle with the issue. They are often surrounded by people—other children, teachers, and family – and so the concept of children and young people feeling lonely is not always recognised.
But data published by the ONS showed 11.3% of children said that they were “often” lonely; this was more common among younger children aged 10 to 12 years (14.0%) than among those aged 13 to 15 years (8.6%). Key reasons for loneliness for children that have been identified involved transitions in life, such as moving from primary to secondary school, bullying, disability and bereavement. Children who were not satisfied with the relationships with their family and friends report experiencing loneliness more often.
Looking at age, 16-24 and 25–34-year-olds were more likely to report feeling often/always lonely (both 8%) than 50-64 year olds (5%), and over 65 year olds (both 3%). In addition, 16-24 and 25–34 year-olds were also less likely to say they never feel lonely than all other age groups.
It is not clear exactly what impact the pandemic has had on rates of loneliness among children and young people. But the ONS found that those aged 16-24 were four times more likely to report ‘lockdown loneliness’ than those aged 65 plus. Disruptions to schooling, college, university and social activities is likely to have made the situation worse – and certainly there is evidence rates of mental health problems have increased.