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  • Event | 16 Feb 2022

Loneliness in the EU – Cross-cutting Issues for Research

The event is part of a webinar series on fairness and related issues organised by the Fairness Community of Practice.

Composite Indicators

The Fairness Community of Practice at the European Commission Joint Research Centre - Monitoring, Indicators and Impact Evaluation Unit invites you to an online event on:

Loneliness in the EU – Cross-cutting Issues for Research
16 February 2022, 3.00–4.30 pm CET

The event is part of a webinar series on fairness and related issues organised by the Fairness Community of Practice. More information on the Community of Practice and events can be found on the Fairness CoP page.

Register to the event by sending an email to: EC-FAIRNESS-COP@ec.europa.eu

Why focus on loneliness?

  • Loneliness is linked to a number of health issues. Loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are as bad for one’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Holt-Lunstad, 2010).
  • Measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 has magnified the problem. In the first months following the COVID-19 outbreak, the proportion of EU citizens feeling lonely more than half of the time doubled to around 25% (JRC report).
  • Loneliness affects all age groups. Even though the elderly may be more socially isolated than other age groups, they do not report more frequent feelings of loneliness (d’Hombres et al. 2021).
  • Loneliness and social isolation are not just harmful to mental and physical health but can also have significant consequences for social cohesion and community trust.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been working on the topic of loneliness since 2018 when it first analysed the incidence and determinants of loneliness in Europe. In 2021-2023 a a broad series of activities will take place in the context of a European Parliament pilot project on monitoring loneliness in Europe. The European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, in collaboration with the JRC, will carry out a number of tasks including the collection of pan-European data on loneliness, a review of existing literature and identification of knowledge gaps, and the establishment of a web platform to monitor loneliness over time and across Europe.

The next JRC Community of Practice on Fairness event will foster an informed dialogue and knowledge sharing on some of the key aspects and cross-cutting issues for loneliness research.

Opening words: Izabella Györfi, Assistant to the Head of Cabinet of Vice President Šuica.

Presentations:

  • Manuela Barreto, Prof. of Social and Organisational Psychology at the University of Exeter.
    Loneliness and stigma
    English
    (1.74 MB - pdf)
    Download

 

  • Luzia Heu, Assistant Prof. in Interdisciplinary Social Science at Utrecht University.
    Loneliness across cultures
    English
    (3.11 MB - pdf)
    Download

 

  • Rebecca Nowland, Research Fellow at the University of Central Lancashire.
    Loneliness and Social Media
    English
    (1.04 MB - pdf)
    Download

 

Concluding words: Béatrice d’Hombres, Project Leader at JRC.

The event will be moderated by Francesco Berlingieri, Socio-Economic Analyst at JRC.