Social Connections

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Research shows that social connections are important for our well-being. Having support from family and friends is important for our happiness and health and is also instrumental to our ability to share information, learn from others, and seize economic opportunities.

In this article, we explore data on loneliness and social connections across countries and over time and review the available evidence on how and why social connections and loneliness affect our health and emotional welfare, as well as our material well-being.

Despite the fact that there is a clear link between social connections and well-being, more research is needed to understand causal mechanisms, effect sizes, and changes over time.

As we show here, oversimplified narratives that compare loneliness with smoking or that claim we are living in a 'loneliness epidemic' are wrong and unhelpful.

See all interactive charts on loneliness and social connections ↓