Loneliness in London

The Reconceptualising Loneliness in London report, authored by Neighbourly Lab, Campaign to End Loneliness and What Works Centre for Wellbeing, was commissioned by the GLA to explore the unequal distribution of loneliness across the capital. Building on from the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration, the research illuminates some of the factors and experiences that impact on Londoners’ collective capacity to build equal and meaningful relationships across difference.



The research starts a new and challenging conversation about the structural factors that contribute to loneliness in our city and proposes innovative areas for action to help funders, local and central government, civil society organisations and each of us as individuals to prioritise relationships in the emerging recovery from the pandemic.

This research, which estimates that 700,000 Londoners feel lonely ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ presents a fresh wake-up call for everybody invested in the health of Londoners and the health of our communities.

• At least 700,000 are affected by severe loneliness and feel lonely ‘most’ or ‘all of the time’. The pandemic is very likely to have exacerbated this further.
• Loneliness is felt unequally and disproportionately impacts some groups: while overall 8 per cent of Londoners experience severe loneliness, this is 12 per cent for young Londoners; 18 per cent for low-income Londoners; 15 per cent for LGBTQ+ Londoners; 12 per cent for Single Parents; 18 per cent for Deaf and Disabled Londoners, and as high as 14 per cent for some ethnic minority groups.
• Five key associative factors help to explain what is driving most severe loneliness in the capital. These factors highlight how wider, structural problems contribute to the emotional and physical isolation of severe loneliness.

Please read the full report to explore these findings in more detail, and read the authors’ proposed solutions to the problem areas identified.