Annex B: Harmonisation work on loneliness measures

In May 2020, following collaboration with the ONS Quality of Life team, the GSS Harmonisation Team published the Loneliness harmonised standard for measuring loneliness[11] with harmonised measures both for adults and children and young people. This harmonised standard is under development.

The principles are increasingly being adopted for use in surveys across England and the UK. However, as tackling loneliness is a devolved issue, both Wales and Scotland have different national indicators, meaning loneliness statistics are not directly comparable across the UK. Northern Ireland does not currently have a national indicator for loneliness, but most of the government surveys in Northern Ireland use the harmonised measure.

[11] GSS Loneliness harmonised standard