The UK government wants to hear more from young people about how to tackle loneliness during lockdown, Civil Society minister Baroness Diana Barran told the BBC.
“Survey after survey shows that loneliness is actually a bigger problem for young people than it is for older people,” Barran told The Next Episode podcast.
A survey carried out last month as part of a major study for the Mental Health Foundation found that 44% of 18-24-year-olds felt lonely because of coronavirus – compared to 24% of adults in general.
Asked how often she and her government colleagues discussed young people specifically when planning how to tackle the problem, she said “probably not enough. I’ll be doing it more next week I promise you”.
This week, a £5m ($6m) fund was launched to combat loneliness during the pandemic – but Barran said it wasn’t yet clear how much of that funding would reach under-25s.
Source: BBC
