SYDNEY, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australians are becoming increasingly lonely and socially isolated, according to new research, which found rates of social isolation nearly doubled over the past 23 years.
Loneliness rates also increased over time, though more gradually than social isolation, with the sharpest impacts observed among vulnerable populations, according to a statement released Tuesday by Australia's University of Sydney (USYD).
The study examined 23 years of nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, which provides some of the country's first long-term national evidence on trends in loneliness and social isolation.
It found the rate of episodic social isolation, defined as experiencing social isolation in at least one survey wave, rose from 16.9 percent in 2001 to 29.9 percent in 2023. Chronic social isolation, recorded across at least two consecutive survey waves, approximately doubled from 10.3 percent in 2002 to 20.5 percent in 2023.
Loneliness followed a different pattern, generally declining during the 2000s before increasing again from the 2010s onward, with chronic loneliness rising from 6.3 percent in 2002 to 8.4 percent in 2023, the study showed.
Younger adults experienced some of the largest increases in loneliness, while older adults consistently had the highest levels of social isolation and showed the greatest increases over time, it noted.
The study found loneliness and social isolation were consistently more common among people who were unemployed, lived in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, widowed, living alone, or had lower levels of education.
The findings highlight social connection as a public health issue requiring "sustained policy and public health action across the life course," said USYD Prof. Melody Ding, senior author of the study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. ■