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Parental Loneliness Survey May 2021

In May 2021 we conducted a survey with YouGov to explore levels of loneliness amongst parents with young children in Britain.

Highlights

  1. Over half of all parents report feeling lonely either sometimes (36%), often (13%) or always (3%).

  2. Parents of young children have continued to feel lonelier as the pandemic has continued; those who feel always/often lonely increased from 9% in October 2020 to 16% in May 2021.*
    *In October 2020 Ipsos MORI conducted an online survey of 1,000 parents of 0–5-year-olds which asked how often they felt lonely, with 9% responding “Always/Often”. In the May 2021 YouGov online survey, 1,430 parents of 0–5-year-olds were also asked how often they felt lonely, with 3% responding “Always” and 13% responding “Often”.

  3. What concerns parents most about their loneliness is the impact on their mental health and well-being (46%), which is more of concern to women (55%) than to men (36%).

  4. Over half of parents feel that contact in person with their friends and family is the most important way they could be supported when feeling lonely (59%).

  5. When asked what parents want their friends and family to do, 23% said they just wanted them to text, call or reach out more frequently, highlighting that there are really simple ways we can all help parents we know with young children to feel less lonely and to support their well-being.