Ireland is one of four European countries in which young people are more likely than older ones to report feeling lonely and isolated, a report has said.
People aged 16 to 24 were found to be the most likely group in Ireland to report feeling “lonely most or all of the time over the past four weeks”, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report said.
Social Connections and Loneliness, published on Thursday, also said the reported loneliness figure was significantly ahead of the rate for those aged 65 or over.
Only Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark mirrored this pattern among the 23 countries covered, something the authors suggested was reflected in other international surveys as well as locally produced domestic data.
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“On the one hand, this could be a reflection of different age patterns in different countries, cultural groups or regions – that is, in certain places younger people may be more vulnerable to feelings of loneliness,” the report stated.
“On the other hand, this could reflect underlying structural changes that are making young people everywhere more at-risk to feeling lonely, with these trends already visible in some countries and not yet in others, though they may arise in future.”
Separately, CSO figures for 2022 had indicated a fifth of all young people experienced feeling of loneliness, with 5.6 per cent saying they were lonely most or all of the time. Last year, the figure for those most severely affected remained unchanged, despite the passing of the Covid pandemic.
While most people across OECD nations were found to have generally good social connections, many of the OECD report’s findings were stark, with 10 per cent of those across the wider survey feeling unsupported by others and 8 per cent saying they have no close friends.
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Men and young people were cohorts with growing levels of loneliness, but older people were generally found to be the most at risk.
Eleven per cent of those aged over 65 reported never seeing a friend in a “typical” year, while 8.4 per cent said they felt lonely some or all of the time during the week previous to being surveyed.
The number of people experiencing feelings of loneliness or isolation was found to have increased during the pandemic, with evidence suggesting young people were disproportionately impacted.
Socio-economic status and access to spaces such as libraries, parks, cafes and bars that facilitated personal connections were all identified as factors affecting loneliness.
Women reported more regular interactions with family members they did not live with but fewer with friends. They reported higher levels of dissatisfaction with romantic relationships.
The growth in the number of young people who reported they were lonely is seen as striking, however, with 5 per cent of young people saying they had nobody to count on in times of need or crisis.
“Despite younger people generally experiencing better social connections outcomes than older cohorts, those aged 16 to 24 saw the largest increase in feeling lonely over this period – with the pandemic possibly compounding a longer-term trend,” the report said.
“Young people also reported rising relationship dissatisfaction and worsening social support, while meeting with friends in person less frequently. Many of these deteriorations are driven by younger men.
“The underlying drivers and potential consequences of these shifts for younger generations are likely complex: understanding and addressing them should be a priority.”
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Mike Mansfield of Jigsaw, a charity that campaigns on the issue of young people’s mental health, said: “You can’t have a conversation about loneliness without talking about Covid.
“That had a really significant impact on young people, massively disturbing their daily life and pulling them out of the social connections and structures they had and away from groups of mates.
“Then they were thrown back into it and I think for a huge number of people that reintegration back into society, probably more so even than the actual lockdown itself, has been really difficult as they found it very difficult to navigate how to form and maintain decent, meaningful relationships.”
Like the OCED, he said more resources should be devoted to quantifying the scale of the issue.
