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Loneliness
Key Insights From the UK's First Belonging Barometer
A major new study reveals how to reconnect to people, place, power, and purpose.
Updated April 17, 2024 Reviewed by Ray Parker
Key points
- Belonging is the experience of connection to each other and the world around us.
- A landmark poll of 10,000 in Britain shows young people are lonelier than older generations.
- Understanding disconnection better gives us clues to simple solutions that can help heal widespread isolation.
There is currently much discussion in the United Kingdom about this year’s upcoming general election and a widespread expectation that Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer will be the country’s next prime minister.
Last October, I watched with interest as Sir Keir laid out his case at the Labour Party’s annual conference. I was struck by one line of his speech in particular: “At some point in your life, many people here will have heard a nagging voice inside, saying, no, this isn’t for you. You don’t belong here….But imagine if, instead, a whole country said, you do belong.”
What Is Belonging?
Belonging is the experience of connectedness through community, through rootedness in a place, a feeling of agency in civic life, and a sense of common mission with others.
While I have done much work to catalogue, examine, and analyze belonging in different contexts across the world—and have felt greater and greater conviction about this understanding of belonging over the years—I have faced the challenge of turning wonderful and illuminating conversations with individuals into the kind of widespread dialogue that can create real systemic change.
As I know other educators will understand, I have also often found myself caught in a tension between the desire to study and the urge to act. But when I heard the prospective leader of the UK speak directly on the topic of belonging, I found myself thinking—why does it need to be a choice?
That’s why, last year, I convened a group of colleagues, and we set out to try to do both.
Understanding Belonging More Deeply
We founded an initiative called the Belonging Forum that is designed to engage in high-quality, solutions-focused research on the state of belonging. Crucially, though, it also seeks to start conversations about belonging at a national and international level. Over the past month, we’ve released the findings of our first Belonging Barometer—a landmark poll of 10,000 people in the United Kingdom that focuses on the contours of people’s connections to one another as well as their communities, workplaces, lands, and public institutions.
While the Belonging Barometer is a robust piece of research in its own right, it was also designed to be shared with nonprofit organizations, the public, and policymakers so we can work together to create change for people in all walks of life in the UK. It’s the first of a series of studies that we plan to undertake in countries around the world in the coming years.
Findings From the First Belonging Barometer
In many cases, the findings surprised us.
The study revealed, for example, that—contrary to prevailing narratives—young people may be experiencing a more acute crisis of isolation than older generations. Just 5% of people over 65 reported feeling lonely often or always, compared to 16% of 18-to 24-year-olds.
The study also revealed new contours of the crisis of isolation. For example, 72% of men aged 18-24 report being satisfied with their lives, with the figure dropping to 64% of women in the same age bracket. The study revealed 45% of those with a disability reported feeling anxious yesterday, compared to 36% of the general population.
While the first edition of the Belonging Barometer only began to examine how nature and environment contribute to the experience of belonging, it revealed important insights about how people experience belonging in the places they call home. We found, for example, that just 43% of renters say they know their neighbors, compared to 69% of those who own their homes. Renters are more likely to say they are dissatisfied with their friendships (65% vs. 76%) and are less likely to report ‘feeling happy yesterday’ (62% vs. 75% of those who own their homes). This underscores how, beyond individual psychology, economic and political factors, like whether people have the conditions to buy a home, can substantially impact the experience of belonging.
On questions of power and participation, we found a strong relationship between the feeling of being represented in government, in this case by their local town council, and having a greater number of close friends. We also found that the experience of social connection is highly related to the sense that one’s own actions are meaningful. While 86% of respondents who do not feel lonely said the things that they do in their lives are worthwhile, only 45% of people who often or sometimes experience loneliness said the same.
On questions of common purpose, we asked how often participants feel like they are working together with others for mutual benefit or to solve common problems. Overall, 16% of people said always or often, while 40% said rarely or never. To dig deeper into this question, we explored what keeps people from engaging in activities for the common good, like volunteering or organizing community events—and the most common answers included a lack of time (26%), a lack of interest (20%), and nervousness about interacting with other people (15%).
Creating a Charter for Belonging
The purpose of this study isn’t just to paint a picture of the state of social connection. It’s to provide specific data to guide action. Over the coming months, the Belonging Forum will be working with partners in community organizations, nonprofits, religious groups, government offices, and other institutions to create a roadmap for action to address isolation—starting in the UK, based on the new findings there.
Our vision is to create a “charter for belonging”—a compendium of practical ideas that can bring people together to solve shared problems and heal isolation. As a convener of ideas and concepts, I warmly welcome anyone to reach out to me and share thoughts on effective policies that could be included in the charter to address the pressing problems our research identified.
Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fame, once offered a simple but important dictum: “Anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.” The Belonging Barometer findings have kickstarted a discussion about belonging in the United Kingdom. This discussion is an exciting and important step forward on the road to driving action and creating a world in which everybody can truly belong.
