By analysing data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Age UK have determined the factors that people tend to have when they say they are lonely. Their report explains the details (or you can read a lay-language summary).
The ONS then used these results to create data tables that applied the risk factors and weighting to the Census (2011) which is then used to identify the risk of loneliness at neighbourhood level. From this, Age UK have created maps of the local risk for loneliness for people aged 65+ in each local authority. The maps intend to highlight the ‘hotspots’ of highest risk of loneliness for older people. The darker the shading the higher the risk within the local authority shown. You can also see the loneliness risk ranking within England.
The neighbourhoods are divided in the Census into output areas, and the best measure to use are Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). For a description of these areas, see the ONS page.
Also shown is the ranking of each LSOA within England, where 1 is the highest risk and 32,843 is the lowest.
View the map here.
See the FAQs here.
