Loneliness a problem among parents

Parenthood leaves many mothers and fathers feeling lonely or “cut off” from family and friends, according to a poll.

As well as feeling isolated themselves, many parents worry that their children are suffering from loneliness, it suggests.

Action for Children, which commissioned the survey, said loneliness can have a “devastating impact” on children and families.

The poll, which questioned around 2,000 UK parents, found nearly one in four (24.3%) say being lonely is a problem for them, with a further 27.6% saying it has been a problem in the past.

And one in four (25.1%) said they have often felt cut off from friends and other support since becoming a parent for the first time, with 8.9% saying they always feel this way.

One mother, Haley Minns, 34, from Hunstanton, Norfolk, said that becoming a parent was a “totally different experience to what I expected”.

“I’d thought I would be at my happiest, but actually it was so hard,” she said.

“I couldn’t get out the house because I was so anxious.

“All my friends had babies at the same time, but to me, it felt like they were all doing better than me and I just shut myself off.”

Around one in five (20.5%) of those polled admitted they have felt lonely in the last week, with around one in six (17.3%) saying they have experienced this in the last month.

More than two in five (43.8%) say they sometimes worry that their children are lonely.