Changes to social isolation, loneliness and wellbeing over time and between generations
The work is a secondary data analysis initiative (SDAI) which uses data from five British longitudinal cohort studies. It looks at whether levels of social connectedness and loneliness, and their relationship to subjective wellbeing, change over people’s lives and between generations.
Despite an increase in policy interest, there is little evidence documenting the associations between social isolation, loneliness and subjective wellbeing across our lives and between generations. This research project aims to address this gap, while also generating a range of comparable measures of social isolation for future research.
Social isolation is an objective condition. It can be quantifiably assessed by the number and frequency of social connections and interactions, for example how often someone meets up with their friends, or how many people they live with.
Loneliness is a negative subjective feeling when we feel a discrepancy between our actual and desired social network, perceiving the quantity or quality of social
relationships to be inadequate. It is assessed through self-report questionnaires.
The two concepts are related but distinct dimensions of social relationships. It is possible to feel lonely despite being socially connected, and to feel content in solitude.
The project’s first report was published in Spring 2023.
Using data from five British longitudinal generations studies, the research explored social isolation and connectedness:
Our briefing, below, synthesise findings and recommendations from the report.
Investigating social isolation is a necessary first step in identifying concrete policy, community and societal actions we can take to reduce isolation and loneliness.
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