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As paradoxical as it may seem, the hyper-connected era in which we live generates loneliness which affects more than three quarters of French people, including 20% on a regular basis. Young people and less well-off French people are the most affected.
While the World Health Organization (WHO) created last November a commission to promote social bonds, with the aim of “address loneliness as an urgent health threat“, an Ifop* study for the NextDoor app has just revealed how loneliness does not concern a minority of the French population, quite the contrary.
No less than 77% of French people say they have already experienced episodes of loneliness. We are talking here about alone moments which were absolutely not chosen. At the start of the year, a previous survey, carried out for Goodflair on the occasion of World Solitude Day, indicated that 58% of French people wanted to be alone from time to time.
Among French people who know what it is like to be alone, loneliness becomes a problem to the extent that 20% of them (77%) experience this situation on a regular basis. And contrary to what we imagine, it is not necessarily seniors who are affected, but young people aged 18 to 24. We imagine them surrounded by a group of friends, multiplying outings in good company… However, no less than 45% of young people experience regular loneliness while only 9% of those aged 60 and over.
For its part, the Fondation de France indicated that overconsumption of social networks had the unexpected effect of reinforcing this feeling of loneliness. In his studydeveloped with a Cerlis and Audencia research team as well as Crédoc, the organization indicated associative structures as places where social connections were easier, just like sports facilities, if not markets or the city center.
But you still need to have sufficient resources to frequent these places. Thus, French people whose monthly income is less than 900 euros are four times more likely to feel alone (37%) than those who earn more than 2,500 euros per month (8%), according to Ifop and Nextdoor. 29% even mention economic pressure. These recent years of inflation have logically not helped the situation. Because the surge in prices has impacted spending on outings which nevertheless generate social ties. There are restaurants (61%), but also sporting activities (54%) or planning weekends (55%).
However, mutual aid appears in this study as a way to create more bonds and to move away from episodes of loneliness. By counting on your neighbors for example, we can imagine lending equipment as an easy solution to start a conversation (49%), in the same way as donating products (37%) or carpooling (31%).