9m victims of lonely Britain

Divorce and family breakdown behind crisis

DIVORCE and family breakdown have led to an epidemic of loneliness, a charity report said yesterday.

It found one in three people who admit to suffering loneliness have been through divorce or separation – as many as those who are alone because of disability or ill health.

It also discovered loneliness is not confined to older people, warning that women who have babies at a young age risk spending much of their time alone.

More than nine million people were lonely all or most of the time, the British Red Cross and Co-op report said.

Based on in-depth interviews with 100 people who admitted to being lonely and a survey of 2,500, it found half the population sometimes feel lonely, while only one in five say they never feel isolated.

‘Key triggers that can disrupt lives and create a situation in which loneliness becomes the norm include... facing empty-nest syndrome or retirement, experiencing long-term health issues or mobility limitations, dealing with bereavement and going through a family breakdown, such as divorce or bereavement,’ it said.

The findings are the latest in a series of warnings to people caught in troubled marriages or relationships that break-up is often a prelude to long periods of isolation and emptiness rather than an exciting new start.

An Office for National Statistics report, examining the 2011 census findings, said around two-thirds of people who live alone in their 30s and 40s are men.

It identified that the reason for their solitude is divorce or break-up and their children are often living with their exwives or partners.

The Red Cross/Co-op research found isolation can be made worse by ‘the rapid disappearance of social spaces’ – such as pubs – and by poor availability of transport that might help people travel to see relatives or friends.

The resulting loneliness, the report said, can be as bad for health as smoking or obesity. Lonely people can turn to drinking and eating badly, they can suffer heart problems and high blood pressure or they can become depressed.

Research has shown the possible costs to the NHS and other services could amount to £12,000 for each lonely person over a 15-year period.

Among life events that can trigger loneliness was young women having a baby – those who give birth under the age of 25 are much more likely not to be living with the father than older mothers.

Official birth registration figures for last year reveal nearly a third of new mothers were aged between 20 and 24, and more than half of new teenage mothers either do not live with the father or his name is not registered.

Mike Adamson of British Red Cross said: ‘Our research shows that life transitions are key triggers for loneliness. We need to focus on these moments and work together to prevent loneliness from taking hold in the first place, by responding quickly and helping people to recover once they have hit crisis point.’

Analysts warned easy divorce, the spread of casual cohabiting relationships that break up at three times the rate of marriages and the benefits system are pushing people towards solitary lives.

Researcher Patricia Morgan said: ‘Taxation and the benefits system make it much more profitable to live alone than to live as a couple.

‘People are penalised for living together. It would be much better if people were encouraged to live together rather than penalised for it.’

‘Encourage people to live together’