Loneliness is a complex social problem that is gaining increasing significance worldwide. In response to this challenge, the European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Integration organized a high-level conference in Brussels on June 6, 2023. This event, gathering experts from various fields, marked the final stage in the realization of the first-ever pilot project of the European Parliament on researching loneliness on a EU scale.
The conference brought together decision-makers at the EU and national level, leading academics working on the issue of loneliness, international organizations, as well as practitioners dealing with interventions. The event took place in a hybrid format, both on-site and online, at the Nhow Brussels Bloom hotel. The main topics discussed during the plenary and parallel sessions involved various aspects of loneliness, including its relationship with health, its impact on society, and the role of social media. The aim was to gain a deeper understanding of the complex and prevalent issue of loneliness, as well as to examine its consequences and potential solutions.
As part of the pilot project “Monitoring Loneliness in Europe”, conducted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in collaboration with the European Parliament and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Integration of the European Commission, an extensive survey was conducted on a EU scale in 2022. This study was the first of its kind and aimed to better understand the various aspects of loneliness, including a wide range of individual, social, and contextual factors that contribute to it.
According to the study, on average, 13% of respondents felt lonely most or all of the time in the last four weeks, while 35% of respondents felt lonely at least some of the time. The results obtained also provide information on the relationship between feelings of loneliness and the size and quality of social relationships, major life events, and other important factors.
Research shows that loneliness and social isolation have a detrimental impact on mental and physical health, as well as significant consequences for social cohesion and community trust. They are therefore increasingly recognized as critical public health problems that deserve attention and need to be addressed with effective intervention strategies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also dramatically transformed the lives and social practices of Europeans. Mobility restrictions and social distancing measures introduced to curb the spread of the virus have sparked public discussions about the unintended side effects of such regulations. In particular, some fear that the effects of loneliness may have consequences long after the virus subsides.
The report presents the main findings from two empirical analyses conducted by the JRC, using two complementary sources of information, namely survey data and online data. The analysis based on survey data provides a picture of recent trends in self-declared levels of loneliness across the EU and identifies the dominant sociodemographic and geographical characteristics associated with loneliness before and during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Survey data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. The percentage of respondents who often felt lonely doubled after the outbreak of COVID-19. Furthermore, young adults were hit more seriously.
The analysis based on online data examines trends in media reports on loneliness and social isolation between January 2018 and January 2021. The volume of articles on these topics is measured monthly and by member state, and the collected articles are analyzed in depth to identify the dominant emotions contained in them and to detect patterns in the underlying narratives.
The analysis of media reporting also catalogues typologies and examples of policy initiatives aimed at combating loneliness and social isolation. Public initiatives vary between member states. Generally speaking, most interventions are designed at the local level and are rarely part of more systematic programs.
https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/loneliness_en
