As children across the country return to school this week, there will be plenty of parents wondering the same things. Did they enjoy their day? Who did they play with? Have they made a friend? It’s understandable. Few things worry a parent more than the thought of their child being lonely. But new research suggests we need to take childhood loneliness much more seriously, and tackle it much earlier on.
A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has found that one in 20 young people aged 11 to 24 in England now says they have no close friends. A decade ago, that figure was one in 100. Among 16 to 21-year-olds, the proportion with at least three close friends has fallen from 85 per cent in 2012-14 to 72 per cent in 2023-25.
These are stark figures. While the report points to a range of factors behind this growing disconnection – including social media, the legacy of Covid and the decline of youth services and community spaces – we should also ask how parents could be contributing to this.
Parents, of course, cannot be held solely responsible for a youth loneliness epidemic. But we are trying to tackle the problem too late, and without meaning to, parents are often part of the problem. I’ve worked with children and families for more than 30 years, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the foundations of friendship are laid long before children become teenagers.
