Centre for Social Justice
May 2024
Whitestone Insight interviewed 2,066 UK adults online between 15th-16th April 2024, surveying the state of loneliness in the UK. Download the full results here.
Data were weighted to be representative of all UK adults. Whitestone Insight is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Survey Highlights
The Centre for Social Justice commissioned Whitestone Insight for an extensive poll surveying experiences of, and attitudes towards, loneliness in the UK
Part One of the Lonely Nation report focuses on the relationship between family and loneliness, particularly marriage. The thread that runs through the data is the power of family as a protecting factor against loneliness, above cohabiting, living with friends, and other living arrangements/relationship statuses.
Headline findings from the data include:
6 in 10 Britons are lonely, rising to 7 in 10 young people
44% of UK adults agree ‘most people can be trusted’, but only 28% of lonely people agree
Older people are perceived as lonely some or much of the time (87% agree), while only 12% do in reality
79% of UK adults agree family breakdown is a significant contributing factor to loneliness
Half of adults not already married say the financial costs of a wedding deter them from marriage
3 in 10 UK adults say they lack meaningful relationships, including almost 5 in 10 (44%) of 18-24 year olds