Are seniors on the brink of a loneliness epidemic? A U.K. study suggests just that.
The study comes out of the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics as part of the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, which found 51% of baby boomers in the U.K. feel lonely due to divorce.
Researchers connect growing loneliness levels with growing divorce rates for those over 50 years old, events also known as “silver splitter” divorces.
“Fifty-one percent of baby boomers
in the U.K. feel lonely due to divorce.”
Overall, one in three baby boomers in the U.K., or nearly 7 million people, admitted to feeling lonely.
While the study took place in the U.K., it’s easy to see how the risk factors for loneliness among older individuals, especially those experiencing later-life divorce, are at least as common and growing at least as quickly in the U.S.
Making matters worse, the study noted the number of depressed baby boomers is likely to rise as their generation approaches and passes through retirement, likening this upcoming crisis to a “loneliness time bomb.”
Source: Telegraph.co.uk.
