fairness infographics loneliness v3 - european commission · fairness infographics_loneliness_v3...
TRANSCRIPT
of all Europeans age
d ove
r 15
Loneliness an unequally shared burden in Europe
How lonely are Europeans?
Population ageing, the rising number of people living alone and the increased use of digital technologies for communication have led many to posit that loneliness is on the rise.The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has analysed the incidence and the determinants of loneliness across Europe.
18% meet others at most once a month
7% frequently feel lonely
Loneliness is measured with two indicators:
Eastern and Southern Europeans are lonelier and more socially isolated than Western and Northern Europeans
+40%HU • EL
8% caNL • DK SE
NL • DK
10%HU • CZ • IT PL • BE • EL
DE • IE • SE
FI
3%
4%
5%
People not socialising more than once a month* People frequently feeling lonely*
the least isolated
the least lonely
Socially isolated individuals are those who meet socially with friends, relatives or work colleagues at most once a month
Lonely individuals are those who report feeling lonely ‘most of the time’, ‘almost all’ or ‘all of the time’ in the past week
1
2
*percentage of the populaion
35% caLT • EE
PL
JointResearchCentre
JointResearchCentre
This study is part of a multi-year research project to analyse different aspects of fairness, including inter alia income inequality and other measureable inequalities, social mobility, social isolation, segregation and people's perceptions and attitudes regarding fairness. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research/crosscutting-activities/fairness/
poor health healthy
+65 years old 24-45years old
+9%percentage points
People in poor health, the unemployed and those with low incomes suffer more from loneliness
Elderly people may be more socially isolated but they are not feeling lonelier
Europeans living in cities are not any more lonely or isolated than everyone else
Individuals with poor health conditions are more likely to be frequently lonely*
The poor unemployed face a higher risk of frequent loneliness*
The proportion of people feeling lonely in rural areas is comparable to that in urban areas*
+10percentage points
unemployedand poor
+7percentage points
employedin the highest
income quintile
Nevertheless, they are not more likely to be frequently lonely
Elderly people are less likely to engage often in social activities*
poor healthmental
problems
poor cognitive performance
pessimistic judgments
threatened by life situations
socially inept
Why does loneliness matter?
Its mortality risks are comparable to those of obesity and smoking
Lonely people are more likely
to have
and to feel more
Lonely people are often stigmatised
as socially inept.
* all other individual characteristics are kept constant. Multivariate analyses have been used for calculations.