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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Has loneliness amongst older people increased?
— an investigation into variations between cohorts | | Author(s) | Christina R Victor, Sasha J Scambler, Sunil Shah |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 22, part 5, September 2002 |
| Pages | pp 585-597 |
| Keywords | Loneliness ; Isolation ; Social change ; Cross sectional surveys ; Literature reviews ; London. |
| Annotation | Loneliness has been consistently identified as one of the specific "social problems" accompanying old age and growing older. 90% of the UK general population feel that loneliness is a problem associated with old age. There is a widespread presumption that loneliness and isolation have become more prevalent in Britain since the Second World War, as a result of the decline in multi-generation households and changes in family structure. This paper uses a comparative analysis of historical and contemporary data to examine the accuracy of this stereotype, and considers whether present cohorts of older people are more likely to report experiencing loneliness than previous generations of elders. Data come from three surveys conducted in England between 1945 and 1960, and the South London Health Survey 1999. The questions used in all four surveys were comparable, in that respondents self-rated their degree of loneliness from "never" to "always". The overall prevalence of loneliness ranged from 5% to 9% and showed no increase, and were stable for specific age or sub-gender groups. Reported loneliness for those living alone decreased from 32% in 1945 to 14% in 1999, and also decreased for the "never" or "sometimes" lonely. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-021003003 A |
| Classmark | DV: TP: TMH: 3KB: 64A: 82L |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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