Millennials and loneliness

When we think of loneliness, it’s easy to assume that the issue is all about spending too much time alone. But loneliness is more complex than that - it’s not just about being by yourself.

Mind, the mental health charity, describes loneliness as:

“The feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. You may have lots of social contact, or be in a relationship or part of a family, and still feel lonely – especially if you don't feel understood or cared for by the people around you.”

45% of adults feel occasionally, sometimes or often lonely in England.

This equates to over 25 million people. (This figure was calculated based on the ONS population for England estimates of 2019.) Generally speaking, when we think of loneliness, we think of older people. But loneliness in younger people is definitely an increasing problem, and it’s not just because of the pandemic.

What’s causing loneliness in millennials?

Social media and loneliness are closely linked, and millennials grew up with social media usage as the norm.

Yes, you can have thousands of friends on Facebook or followers on Instagram, but frequently viewing curated snapshots of other people’s lives can leave social media users feeling as if everyone else has a better life, is more clever, funnier, more interesting, has more friends, etc.

The facts:

While we understand that we can all feel lonely sometimes, the actual facts and figures are quite astonishing.

The same survey said that 30% of millennials “always” or “often” feel lonely,  compared with 20% of Gen X and 15% of baby boomers.

A 2017 survey by Action for Children found that 43% of 17 – 25-year-olds who used their service had experienced problems with loneliness, and shockingly, of this same group, less than half said they felt loved. 

While loneliness has always been a problem, the pandemic certainly exacerbated the issue: 55% of respondents in a survey by the Benenson Strategy Group said the coronavirus affected their mental health.

Analysis by the Office for National Statistics found that millennials were twice as likely to suffer from loneliness during the pandemic. Perhaps this is because they’re used to living much more social lives than older people, so isolation was more of a shock to the system.

Just over half of young people aged 16 to 24 who said their wellbeing was affected by the lockdown have experienced loneliness, the survey suggests. By contrast, just under a quarter of people aged 55 to 69, who reported their wellbeing as being affected by the lockdown reported the same problem. 

The loneliness epidemic in younger people is well and truly real. These statistics have left us wondering what can be done to help combat it. Could less time on social media be the answer? Or something more proactive?