News / Society

Britain appoints 'minister for loneliness' to tackle social isolation

Wednesday, 17 January 2018 2:27 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 22 January 2018 7:19 PM ]

Britain has appointed a "minister for loneliness" to overcome what Prime Minister Theresa May described as "the sad reality of modern life" affecting millions of people. (File Photo)

Britain has appointed a "minister for loneliness" to tackle modern public health problems associated with social isolation affecting millions of people in the UK.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May appointed Tracey Crouch on Wednesday after research showed as many as one in ten people felt lonely “always or often” and that hundreds of thousands of elderly people hadn’t spoken to a friend or relative in the past month.

"For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life," May said.

"I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by carers, by those who have lost loved ones -- people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with," she added.

According to the British Red Cross, more than nine million people say they are always or often lonely, out of a population of 65.6 million.

The charity describes loneliness and isolation as a "hidden epidemic" affecting people across all ages at various moments in their life, such as retirement, bereavement or separation.

File photo of Tracey Crouch (L), bowling at Prince Arthur Road Indoor Bowls Club.

The ministerial appointment follows a recommendation from a committee in memory of Jo Cox, a lawmaker for the opposition Labour party who was murdered by a far-right extremist.

Cox was tragically killed in her constituency in northern England in June 2016, ahead of the Brexit referendum. It is the first time since the 90's that a sitting Member of parliament has been murdered.

"Jo experienced and witnessed loneliness throughout her life especially as a new student at Cambridge University and separated from her sister Kim for (the) first time," the Jo Cox Foundation wrote on Twitter.

Loneliness is as bad for your health as chronic medical conditions, Britain’s top GP warned in October. Many older people go to their GP because they are lonely and want human contact, said Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs.

Britain's loneliness initiative will publish a strategy later this year, with input from national and local government, public services, the voluntary sector and businesses.

In the United States, approximately 42.6 million adults aged over 45 reported suffering from chronic loneliness in a major 2010 study by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

The most recent US census data shows more than 25 percent of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined, the American Psychological Association heard last summer.

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