in partnership with UKCP
Despite all the ways we have to interact with others, people still feel isolated and alone. Loneliness is an increasing problem – so much so that, last year, the government introduced a loneliness strategy and minister for loneliness. We often talk of the condition in relation to older people but rarely gender. It may come as a surprise then that so many of those affected by loneliness are men.
A recent YouGov survey for Movember, a charity event that raises awareness of men’s health issues, asked men about their friendships and whether they had people outside their homes they could confide in about their worries. Half of men asked said they had two or fewer friends and one in eight had none – that’s 2.5 million men with no close friends. Even worse, men’s friendlessness trebles between their early 20s and late middle age.