The wellbeing of almost 8million Britons was affected by loneliness caused by the government’s coronavirus lockdown, official data suggests.
A survey by the Office for National Statistics of more than 5,500 people suggested 14.3 per cent of the population — or 7.4million people – have suffered loneliness in the past seven days.
Statisticians revealed this group of people, dubbed the ‘lockdown lonely’, tend to be young, single or divorced, and renting.
Half of those aged 16 to 24 were affected by ‘lockdown loneliness’, according to the survey, compared to just a quarter of those around their 60s.
Separate findings of the same survey, carried out on 5,000 Brits, revealed 5 per cent were ‘chronically lonely’ and admitted they felt alone ‘often or always’.
Lonely people in the survey reported feeling more stressed or anxious than the average person, and were spending more time alone without anyone to listen to their problems
People across the board noted that the coronavirus impact on well-being was their biggest concern, but this was seen more clearly among those who were chronically lonely or lockdown lonely
Lockdown loneliness and chronic loneliness affected life satisfaction and happiness
The data from The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey was collected from April 3 to May 3 and involved 5,260 adults.
Everyone in the survey was asked ‘How often do you feel lonely?’. Five per cent of said they were suffering chronic loneliness, which means they are lonely ‘often or always’ and not just in the past seven days.
This equates to 2.6million people across Great Britain.
A second part of the survey measured ‘lockdown loneliness’ – which is loneliness in the past seven days.
Only people who said their well-being had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and that they were worried about how their life would be impacted, were asked if they had been lonely in the past seven days.
Of 2,440 adults eligible for this question, 30.9 per cent reported their well-being had been affected due to loneliness.
Had this question been asked of all respondents, the ONS estimated 14.3 per cent would say their well-being had suffered due to lockdown loneliness.
This equates to 7.4million of the adult population in Great Britain.
The ‘lockdown lonely’ reported much lower levels of life satisfaction, worthiness and feelings of happiness on a ten-point scale compared with the average person.
And their overall well-being scores were lower than the typical Brit, according to the ONS data, released today.
Brits aged 16 to 24 were twice as likely to have had lockdown loneliness, compared to adults aged between 55 and 69.
Half of adults under 25 reported lockdown loneliness. In contrast, the rate was only 24 per cent among adults aged 55 to 69.
This echoes previous research exploring chronic loneliness showing that people in younger age groups were most likely to report feeling alone.
However, the oldest people – those aged 70 years and over – were no less likely than average to report lockdown loneliness.
Half of those who were single, widowed, divorced or separated from a partner felt lonely during lockdown.
Meanwhile, the ONS data showed that only 16.5 per cent of people living with their partner said they were lonely.
Almost four in ten of those living in rented housing were lonely in lockdown, which the ONS said may be linked to the fact they live alone or do not have a garden.
A quarter of people in rented homes in England do not have access to a garden. The rate is just four per cent for those who own their homes.
And it wasn’t possible for people to meet up with anyone they do not live with until mid-May because of the strict Covid-19 lockdown rules.
The ‘lockdown lonely’ may also feel they do not have anyone to turn to – less than half agreed that they had a community to support them compared with two-thirds in the general population.
Both the chronically lonely and the lockdown lonely cited the impact of the coronavirus on their well-being as their single biggest concern.
Among the chronically lonely, 44.8 per cent said they feared the impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing, compared with 41.1 per cent for the lockdown lonely.
Characteristics of people who said they felt lonely either during lockdown or chronically
People who are lonely say they find it difficult to keep themselves busy and cope with the lockdown. Gardening, along with cooking, exercising or spending time with family, is considered a coping mechanism for loneliness. But a quarter of people in rented homes in England do not have access to a garden compared to four per cent of those who own their homes, and it wasn’t possible to see family members outside your own household for weeks
Dawn Snape, assistant director of sustainability and inequalities division, ONS, said: ‘The ONS has been researching people’s well-being for nearly a decade, providing a different perspective on how our country is doing, and on social inequalities.
‘Lockdown affected everyone, but responses differed. During that first month, the equivalent of 7.4million people said their well-being was affected through feeling lonely.
”’Lonely’ people were more likely than others to be struggling to find things to help them cope and were also less likely to feel they had support networks to fall back on.’
Levels of chronic loneliness does not seem to have changed significantly as a result of lockdown. But notably, 6.3 per cent of survey respondents said they had both chronic and lockdown loneliness.
The chronically lonely were more likely than the lockdown lonely to say that their mental health had been affected – 62.5 per cent compared with 45.8 per cent.
They also reported even lower levels of life satisfaction, happiness and feeling life is worthwhile than those who just had lockdown loneliness.
Working-age adults living alone were more likely to report loneliness both ‘often or always’ and over the past seven days than the average adult.