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Economic Aspects of Loneliness in Australia

Author

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  • Claryn S. J. Kung
  • Johannes S. Kunz
  • Michael A. Shields
Abstract
We highlight the problem of loneliness, and argue that it is not only a public health issue but also an economic problem. We provide a brief review of findings from the key literature on the associations between loneliness, mental and physical health, and healthcare costs; and then present some evidence on its trends, the extent of socioeconomic inequalities and its links with health and healthcare usage, in Australia. We hope to encourage further economics research on loneliness, and related issues of social isolation and poor social support, to aid the design of policies and interventions to reduce loneliness.

Suggested Citation

  • Claryn S. J. Kung & Johannes S. Kunz & Michael A. Shields, 2021. "Economic Aspects of Loneliness in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(1), pages 147-163, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:54:y:2021:i:1:p:147-163
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12414
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Verena H Menec & Nancy E Newall & Corey S Mackenzie & Shahin Shooshtari & Scott Nowicki, 2019. "Examining individual and geographic factors associated with social isolation and loneliness using Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Buecker, Susanne & Horstmann, Kai T. & Krasko, Julia & Kritzler, Sarah & Terwiel, Sophia & Kaiser, Till & Luhmann, Maike, 2020. "Changes in daily loneliness for German residents during the first four weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    7. Finlay, Jessica M. & Kobayashi, Lindsay C., 2018. "Social isolation and loneliness in later life: A parallel convergent mixed-methods case study of older adults and their residential contexts in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 25-33.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kung, Claryn S.J. & Pudney, Stephen E. & Shields, Michael A., 2022. "Economic gradients in loneliness, social isolation and social support: Evidence from the UK Biobank," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    2. Kung, Claryn S.J. & Kunz, Johannes S. & Shields, Michael A., 2023. "COVID-19 lockdowns and changes in loneliness among young people in the U.K," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
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    5. Elizabeth Casabianca & Matija Kovacic, 2022. "Loneliness and health among the elderly.The role of cultural heritage and relationship quality," Working Papers 2022:01, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
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    8. Freak-Poli, Rosanne & Jenkins, Stephen P. & Shields, Michael A. & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2024. "Evidence on the Robustness of the Links between Social Relationships and Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 17274, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Motamarri, Saradhi & Akter, Shahriar & Hossain, Md Afnan & Dwivedi, Yogesh K, 2022. "How does remote analytics empowerment capability payoff in the emerging industrial revolution?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1163-1174.
    10. Bryan, Bridget T. & Thompson, Katherine N. & Goldman-Mellor, Sidra & Moffitt, Terrie E. & Odgers, Candice L. & So, Sincere Long Shin & Uddin Rahman, Momtahena & Wertz, Jasmin & Matthews, Timothy & Ars, 2024. "The socioeconomic consequences of loneliness: Evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal study of young adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).

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