Loneliness shaping as major poverty problem
Loneliness and a lack of social support are shaping as problems in Western countries, which are just as debilitating as a lack of material needs, according to a British social policy expert recently visiting Australia.
Geoff Mulgan, director of Britain’s Young Foundation, said that issues such as social isolation would become increasingly problematic and governments needed to consider how they could take on roles previously carried out by family and community.
“If you’re an 80-year-old and you have a house and enough food to eat but you’ve got no-one to talk to week to week, that’s in some ways a more serious kind of poverty than if you’ve got not much cash but you have family, friends, and community around you,” Mr Mulgan said.
“It’s no longer enough for welfare systems to provide cash, housing, or even job opportunities to those in need. It may be just as important to work on social supports and social networks in a community because often these do atrophy and weaken.”
