Study: The economics of loneliness in Australia
/New research out of Monash University looks into the economic impact of loneliness and isolation in Australia, finding the issue is as much economic as a public health problem.
Key findings include:
When compared with the bottom 20 per cent of household income, the 20 per cent with higher incomes are more likely to report loneliness (5.8 percentage points for women and 6.1 percentage points for men)
About 15 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men with a college-level education report loneliness, but this shoots up 70 per cent higher among those who did not complete high school.
Those living in the lowest and highest socioeconomic areas also saw differences for women and men
The ‘benefit’ of being married reduces the probability of being lonely by 11.2 per cent for women and 14.1 per cent for men, thus being in the highest 20 per cent of income distribution versus the lowest 20 per cent provides half the ‘benefit’ of being married
Other United Kingdom studies estimate the cost of ongoing loneliness to the health and social care system, and to employers, with the latter (from sick days and productivity loss) found in research to be equal to around £2.5 billion per year.
It is often presumed that only older people suffer loneliness, but this isn’t true, with young people found in research (PDF) to be equally (if not more) lonely. The Australian study saw women suffering greater loneliness than men within each age group and in every year, with those reporting loneliness made up of 15-20 per cent 15-24-year-olds. Older individuals make up 16.1 per cent of those who are lonely.
There is no clear pattern for older men, however, we do see a continual decline in women aged over 65 reporting loneliness. Since 2013, younger people (15-24-year-olds) have become increasingly lonely according to the study.
Further research will tackle questions such as, do lonely young adults become chronically lonely adults? Why are so many young people lonely? How strong is the family relationship correlated to loneliness?
The study, Economic Aspects of Loneliness in Australia, was conducted by Monash University Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Economics at Monash University, Claryn Kung, and co-authors Johannes Kunz and Michael Shields, and published by the Australian Economic Review.
