Loneliness in Europe

Loneliness in Europe: Determinants, Risks and Interventions (Springer, Population Economics series, 2024, open access) is edited by Sylke V. Schnepf and Béatrice d'Hombres of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and Caterina Mauri of the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies (BRISPO). It is built on the EU Loneliness Survey, fielded in late 2022 with 25,646 respondents across all 27 EU countries, plus a probability-based sample in France, Italy, Poland and Sweden.

Asked how much of the past four weeks they had felt lonely, 12–13% of respondents felt lonely most or all of the time, and at least 36–40% felt lonely at least some of the time. Loneliness was lowest (10% or less) in Austria, Croatia, Czechia, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain, and highest (17% or more) in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Luxembourg. The online panel may overstate loneliness: the probability-based samples gave lower shares.

Loneliness falls with age, with the highest levels among young respondents, and women aged 16 to 24 are especially likely to feel lonely. Respondents in the poorest fifth of households have a 7 percentage point higher probability of loneliness once other factors are held constant. More than one in five unemployed people feel lonely. Second-generation migrants, LGB+ respondents (20.0% against 12.4% of heterosexual respondents) and people with a disability (18.3% against 12.9%) are also more at risk.

Respondents who are the only adult in their household are 3 percentage points more likely to feel lonely than those living with other adults, and having a partner lowers the risk. People who moved to their municipality recently are lonelier than those who have lived there more than ten years. Loneliness is highest in the least densely populated fifth of municipalities; beyond those, it rises with density.

Loneliness is linked to poorer health, and the book cites evidence that it carries a higher risk of premature death than obesity and physical inactivity combined. Later chapters cover childhood experiences, health and interventions, and the closing chapter stresses monitoring loneliness over time.

The book does not study housing design directly. Its findings on sole-adult households, recent movers and low incomes are the ones most relevant to housing policy.