All the Lonely PeopleSocial isolation in Europe

Orsolya LelkesEuropean Centre, Vienna

Social contacts are vital for health• Causal effect on physical health:

▫personal contacts influence brain functioning, incl. the lymbic system, and even the operation of genes

▫ the functioning of genes: mostly depends on the (social) environment, not inherited (!)

▫good relationships – safeguards against the negative consequences of stress

• Learning: (at school, at workplace) more successful if related to personal contacts

• Well-being. The second best predictor of the feelings of a day is whether a person did or did not have contacts with friends or relatives (Gallup World Poll)

Why bother about social isolation?•Social isolation is a strong indicator of

▫a basic human need is not met (individual level),

▫lack of social cohesion (social level).

•It is a state where no one would want to be in - not a matter of personal preferences. ▫Extreme loneliness is often a result of

mental health problems or trauma (both are more frequent than many think).

Social isolation in Europeno one to talk to

9%

91%Source: European Social Survey 2010

Social isolation in Europe: 8-12%

no one to talk to9%

91%

European countries

no one to talk to8%

92%

EU

rare or no social meet-

ings12%

88%

rare or no social meet-

ings9%

91%

Lack of social meetings varies more across countries

DK NO NL SE IL HR CH BE FI FR PT ES DE GB CZ SI IE SK PL BG RU EE UA CY GR HU0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

No social meetings No friend to talk to

Happiness is not impossible, but less likely...Distribution of self-reported life satisfaction

extrem

ely d

issat

isfie 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

extrem

ely s

atisfied

0

5

10

15

20

25

Others Lonely (No social meetings)

%

36% of lonely have scores 0-4(others: 16%)

Misfortunes add up: the poor are more isolatedRatio of those with no friends compared to the third income quintile goup

IL FR RU SE BE CY FI DK HU GR UA BG EE SK DE NL GB IE CZ CH PL NO HR ES SI0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Bottom fifth Top fifthOther „risk groups“:• Elderly• Pensioners• Unemployed• Men (personal talk, but not in terms of meeting!)

Look at all the lonely people...