More and more people feel lonely in the European Union – so much so that loneliness has been coined as an "epidemic". But what exactly does it mean to be lonely? Who is affected? Does social media play a role? How are our mental health, the social cohesion and the very fundaments of democracy affected?
This and many more questions have led to a project started by Members of the European Parliament in 2020, which now - after years of work - cumulated in the first-ever comprehensive publication in the EU: a book written by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission giving (first) answers to these big questions.
The book was co-edited and co-authored by Caterina Mauri who is now a BRISPO member.
This book is open-access and available here.
This open-access volume accompanies the microdata release of the EU Loneliness Survey.
Loneliness, often referred to as the ‘epidemic of the 21st century’, has emerged as a grave public health concern. For years, a lack of comprehensive European cross-national data hindered a thorough examination of this issue. In 2022, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre conducted the inaugural EU Loneliness Survey, covering around 30,000 individuals in 27 European nations. The book sheds light on who is most affected by loneliness, identifies contributing experiences and behaviours, addresses the stigmatisation of loneliness and discusses its societal impact. Furthermore, it emphasises the importance of interventions to combat loneliness. Finally, the book discusses the challenges of survey design and offers valuable insights for the monitoring of loneliness in Europe in the future. This makes the book a must-read for scholars and academics interested in population economics, public health and social well-being.
