Tackling loneliness (22 February 2021)

Tackling loneliness

Research Briefing

Published Monday, 22 February, 2021

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. As well as explaining the Strategy and the steps taken so far by the Government, this briefing also looks at research into the causes and impact of loneliness and possible interventions. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on loneliness is also considered, alongside the measures introduced by the Government in response. Finally, this paper briefly outlines the situation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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How common is loneliness?

Around 47% of adults in England experience loneliness occasionally or more often, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) Community life survey 2019/20 (2020).

Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis in 2016/17 suggests that people with a long-term disability, widowed homeowners, unmarried middle-agers and young renters, experience the greatest likelihood of feeling some degree of loneliness.

Results from the Community Life Survey 2019/20 are shown below (click to enlarge):

Notes: Table excludes respondents who answered “don’t know” and those with missing answers. A limiting long-term illness (LLTI) or disability is classified as someone having any physical or mental health condition or illness which are expected to last for 12 months or more and their condition and/or illness reduces their ability to carry out day to day activities. “Quintiles” represent 20% or one-fifth of all areas. Data presented with error bars for 95% confidence interval.

Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Community life survey 2019/20

Covid-19 and loneliness

There are concerns that the social distancing measures introduced in response in the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to an increase in loneliness, particularly amongst people who live alone and those ‘shielding’.

The Office for National Statistics has been monitoring the impact of Covid-19, in particular “lockdown”, on loneliness. Data for 3 to 7 February 2021 indicates that around 27% of the population reported feeling lonely often/always/some of the time. This represents around 14 million adults in Great Britain.

On 22 April 2020 the Government announced a plan to tackle loneliness in response to the pandemic. As part of this, the latest ‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’ was launched, and further measures such as ‘support bubbles’ have been introduced as lockdown measures were eased in 2020.

Section 1.5 of this briefing sets out further the UK Government response to the pandemic and its impact on loneliness.

The financial costs of loneliness

Some academic research has suggested that loneliness (or social isolation) is linked to poorer health outcomes, including early death, higher rates of depression and cognitive decline. Loneliness may lead to higher costs in the public and private sector due to greater service usage, absences and productivity losses. One 2017 report, by the New Economics Foundation, estimated that loneliness cost UK employers £2.2-£3.7 billion per year (p. 35).

The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness (2017)

The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness published its report, Combatting loneliness one conversation at a time: A call to action, in December 2017. Many of its recommendations were adopted by the UK Government. This included adding cross-government work on loneliness to the remit of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society. The Government also announced two funds to combat loneliness – £98 million for the healthy ageing programme and £20 million to support organisations working to combat loneliness (including a new £11 million Building Connections Fund).

The UK Government’s Loneliness Strategy (2018)

The Government’s loneliness strategy, A connected society, was published in October 2018. It set out how the UK Government would provide “national leadership” through a range of measures. These included:

The use of Office for National Statistics measures as the Government’s standard means of measuring loneliness.
initiatives to enable everyday services to connect with people at risk of loneliness, such as via social prescribing;
Strengthening local infrastructure, developing community spaces, and ensure loneliness is considered in the housing and planning system;
reducing stigma and raise awareness of the importance of social connections; and
support community groups and digital inclusion.

The first annual progress report was published in January 2020, and stated that the priorities for 2020 would be improving data relating to loneliness, the designing of policies for children and young people, and tackling loneliness through place and belonging.

The second Annual Report (January 2021) details steps to tackle loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic. The Government said it would focus on reducing stigma, ensuring loneliness is considered in policymaking, and improving the evidence base on loneliness.

Strategies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Strategy extends to England only, but the UK Government intends to ensure that the work is complementary with other nations. Scotland published its own strategy, A connected Scotland, in December 2018; a Welsh strategy was published in February 2020. Northern Ireland‘s Departments for Communities and Health are separately preparing scoping studies on loneliness and some separate departmental strategies currently exist.

IRRV Alert - week ending 27th February 2021

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