More than half of Brits report feeling lonely occasionally, with nearly 4 million experiencing chronic loneliness. From new mums to empty-nesters, divorcees to young people living alone for the first time, loneliness is an issue that can affect literally anyone.
What’s more, it can seriously damage both mental and physical health - and it’s already having an impact on your workplace.
Loneliness in numbers
- c50%2 of UK adults (about 26 million people) feel lonely at least occasionally
- 7%3 (3.8 million people) experience chronic loneliness, meaning they feel lonely ‘often or always’
- 35%4 said they would never admit to feeling lonely
- 25%5 of adults feel ashamed about being lonely
- 60%6 of people experiencing chronic loneliness also experience mental distress
- 4 in 10 people7 (39%) said feelings of loneliness have led them to experience low mood or sadness
- 1 in 48 (25%) said feelings of loneliness made them feel worried or anxious
- 1 in 89 (12%) UK adults have had suicidal thoughts and feelings because of feeling lonely
- 26%10 - the higher risk of mortality that comes with loneliness
- 29%11- the increased of heart disease
- 32%12 - the increased risk of stroke
- 14%13 - the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- 17%14 - the increased risk of vascular dementia
- £2.5 billion15 - the cost of loneliness to UK employers every year, including increased staff turnover (£1.62 billion), lower wellbeing and productivity (£665 million), the impact of caring responsibilities (£220 million) and ill health and associated sickness absence (£20 million)
- 1 in 1016 workers feel lonely at work
- 24%2 of disabled workers feel lonely
- 32%18 of senior managers feel lonely
- £9,90019– the monetised impact of severe loneliness per person per year, due to the impact on wellbeing, health and productivity.
Who is lonely?
There’s lots of complicated reasons behind loneliness, but according to our wellbeing support partners Health Assured20 it’s often linked to a life-changes - many of which will be connected to workplaces, roles and relationships.
People are more likely to be lonely if they are young, female, single or renting21, disabled or of an ethnic minority22 – especially if they are not connected to communities that understand and accommodate them.
Lonely workers might be:
- Young people 16-24 years old23 – especially those leaving home and living alone for the first time
- New parents returning to work after leave and struggling to deal with sleep deprivation, or post-natal mental health issues
- Those going through divorce or the end of a relationship
- Those going through a bereavement
- Those with caring responsibilities
- Remote workers, frequent travellers, or hotdesking workers without a permanent desk or base
- Those moving into management positions for the first time, with a degree of professional separation from their team
- Those going through a job change or moving to a new team
- Those returning to work after a leave of absence, including after a long illness
- Those suffering from a chronic health condition or living with a mental health condition.
Loneliness and the law
Clearly there’s no laws surrounding loneliness directly, but it does intersect with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Businesses can help to tackle loneliness or isolation through understanding who it could impact and how they can support individuals.
How businesses can support people with loneliness
1. Make combatting loneliness part of your organisational culture
Organisations can play their part in creating a culture and infrastructure that supports employees, encourages teamwork and collaboration - and promotes openness, authenticity and meaningful connection.
Loneliness should be included as part of wider employee welfare and wellbeing programmes - and embedded at an organisational level within policies. For example:
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Robust induction and onboarding processes for new staff
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Buddy or mentorship programmes
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Initiatives promoting work-life balance
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Frameworks for regular Keep-In-Touch meetings and mental health check-ins – especially for remote or hybrid workers
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Mental health policies and support – including EAPs like the Equipsme Stress Support service, mental-health first-aiders or champions
2. Give line managers loneliness training
Line managers should be trained to understand and recognise some of the risk factors for loneliness, so they can put in place extra measures to support employees through life or role changes that might make them feel isolated or disconnected. Line managers should also be trained in how to handle difficult or emotional conversations, what policies or initiatives are available to support employees - and how and when to signpost people to further support services.
That should include reminding people about their Equipsme plan. As well as our Stress Support/EAP service (if you have chosen to include this on your plan), our 24/7 GP service is a great starting point to address physical and mental health issues that might be exacerbating or contributing to loneliness.
3. Create loneliness-busting spaces
Organisations can design their spaces to combat loneliness. That might mean taking down barriers between desks, creating communal collaboration spaces, or adding smaller break-out and meeting rooms to encourage more group and joint working. It could also look like adding group activities to break-out rooms, like pool, air hockey or table tennis tables, games consoles, or ‘racing’ exercise bikes.
4. Ask about loneliness
Make sure loneliness and connection are part of your staff engagement survey. Try and find out if people feel connected to their line managers, to management overall, to other departments, to the organisation as a whole, to your mission, and/or to each other. What makes them feel disconnected, or excluded? Where are the support gaps that are increasing isolation?
5. Identify lonely groups and create staff networks
If you can identify the groups within your organisation who feel separate or unrepresented – and/or the reasons they feel disconnected - you can create networks to begin to address those issues and reconnect them. Those groups can then shape policies to meet the unique needs of specific audiences, and promote awareness across your organisation. This should feed into your wider diversity and inclusion work and initiatives.
Great resources and references for employers
Sources:
1 www.campaigntoendloneliness.org
2 www.campaigntoendloneliness.org
3 www.campaigntoendloneliness.org
4 www.mentalhealth.org.uk
5 www.mentalhealth.org.uk
6 www.campaigntoendloneliness.org
7 www.mentalhealth.org.uk
8 www.mentalhealth.org.uk
9 www.mentalhealth.org.uk
10 www.campaigntoendloneliness.org
11 time.com/4299234/heart-attack-loneliness/
12 time.com/4299234/heart-attack-loneliness/
13 www.nia.nih.gov
14 www.nia.nih.gov
15 www.gov.uk
16 www.redcross.org.uk
17 www.redcross.org.uk
18 www.redcross.org.uk/
19 www.gov.uk/government/publications
20 www.healthassured.org
21 www.gov.uk/government/publications
22 www.redcross.org.uk/
23 www.gov.uk/government/publications
All our information is desk-based research from credible sources only, including the NHS and medical/disease charities.
Date created: May 2025
