Why older people in Scotland are the least lonely

WHERE you live affects how likely you are to feel lonely, a survey shows.

And those in Scotland are much more likely to live in a place with good community spirit. The survey of 2,000 people aged over 55 showed a clear link between loneliness and a lack of community cohesion and events.

People living north of the Border felt the strongest links to their areas, with nearly two thirds of over-55s in Scotland saying they felt there was a good sense of local community. The only other part of the UK to come close to that was Wales.

And more than 70 per cent of the Scots surveyed said they have ‘socialised very often’ in the past year.

By contrast, 90 per cent of over-55s living in London say they have felt lonely at some time in the last year, says the Building Companionship report by think tank Demos and retirement housebuilder McCarthy and Stone. North-West England also scored poorly, with two in five over-55s considering moving closer to family and friends.

Only one in three in London and the East of England said there were enough events in their area for people their age, while fewer than half of Londoners felt there was a sense of community in their neighbourhood.

A quarter of respondents in South-West England and Yorkshire and the Humber said they never felt alone. Yorkshire also scored consistently highly for having plenty of social events and a sense of community.

Demos chief executive Claudia Wood said: ‘This report is a wake-up call to an emerging crisis of loneliness and isolation amongst older people in the UK.’

Official statistics show a million older people in the UK suffer from loneliness, which has been linked to health problems including high blood pressure and depression.