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Alone and lonely: the economic cost of solitude for regions in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Burlina, Chiara
  • Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés
Abstract
Solitude is a rising phenomenon in the western world. The share of people affected by solitude has been rising for some time and the Covid-19 pandemic has further brought this trend to the fore. Yet, we know next to nothing about the aggregate subnational economic impact of the rise in solitude. In this paper we analyse the consequences of solitude on regional economic performance across Europe, distinguishing between two of its key dimensions: alone living, proxied by the regional share of single-person households and loneliness, proxied by the aggregate share of social interactions. We find that solitude has important implications for economic development, but that these go in different directions. While alone living is a substantial driver of economic growth across European regions, high shares of lonely people undermine it. The connection of loneliness with economic growth is, however, dependent on the frequency of in-person meetings, with large shares of the population meeting others socially on a weekly basis, alongside a small percentage of people who never meet others, yielding the best economic returns.

Suggested Citation

  • Burlina, Chiara & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2023. "Alone and lonely: the economic cost of solitude for regions in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118526, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:118526
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/118526/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Enghin Atalay, 2024. "A twenty-first century of solitude? Time alone and together in the United States," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 1-33, March.
    2. Casabianca, Elizabeth & Kovacic, Matija, 2024. "Social interactions, loneliness and health: A new angle on an old debate," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1378, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Casabianca, Elizabeth & Kovacic, Matija, 2024. "Historical roots of loneliness and its impact on second-generation immigrants’ health," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 407-437.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    solitude; alone living; loneliness; growth; GDP per capita; regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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