Life in Britain "Has Become Lonelier"

[Hermiod]

Says the BBC.

Community life in Britain has weakened substantially over the past 30 years, according to research commissioned by the BBC.

Analysis of census data reveals how neighbourhoods in every part of the UK have become more socially fragmented.

The study assesses the health of a community by looking at how rooted people are in their neighbourhood.

Academics created "loneliness indices", to identify where people had a "feeling of not belonging".

No comment from me as yet, but it's an interesting set of articles.

 

[An Officer]

I would believe that of the larger cities, which obviously hold a larger majority of the country's population... but is that really the case in rural life?

 

[shrantastic]

I'll be right over, to keep y'all company.


What's for dinner?

 

[Hermiod]

I would believe that of the larger cities, which obviously hold a larger majority of the country's population... but is that really the case in rural life?

The Isolation Map tab clearly shows degradation in virtually every area of Britain and the article suggests the scores had gotten worse in 97% of British communities.

 

[Crewman47]

I'm going to admit that I'm not exactly a socially active person and keep to myself alot and that I've now been living in my current town for the last year now (first place away from parents) and the only people I know through passing are two of my neighbours, and a couple of people from work, one of whom I work with. I haven't really went anywhere inside the town, only staying as far as the the main high street and couldn't tell you the names or directions to anywhere outside my own street.

 

[An Officer]

It took me at least a year to acclimatise to my new area as well, so I wouldn't kick yourself too much. I still find it difficult to draw up a mental map when asked for directions even now, 3 years later.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I call B.S. on this. The factors they used to measure an area's "lonliness" was a formula based on just four things: The percentage of people who are single, who live alone, who rent, and who have lived there for less than a year.

The study's authors decided that the higher the percentage of these four things, the higher the amount of "loneliness" in an area, and they compared the current year with 1971.

Those factors completely overlook changes in family, society and communications. More people are single and live alone, yes, because people are waiting longer to get married. That doesn't mean they're lonely - in fact, people often wait longer because they have rewarding social lives and don't feel the societal pressure to marry at a very young age. More people are renting simply because home ownership is more expensive and difficult than in past generations. And more people have lived in a certain place a shorter time because we have a more mobile lifestyle. Again, that doesn't necessarily translate into "loneliness."

The study overlooks new technology developed since 1971 that makes it much easier to have close relationships with people who don't have to live next door. My friends and family are scattered all over the country (even the world). I communicate regularly with friends in Italy, Hong Kong, etc.

Completely worthless, IMO, much like that "Bowling Alone" theory that used wildly outdated definitions of "community" to conclude that Americans had become anti-social.

 

[An Officer]

The fact is, if you live alone, you're automatically going to spend more time alone... as it's not likely you're going to be with people 24/7 unless you live with others. Social life also depends on your age. Older single people are definitely going to be at higher risk of loneliness, due to a number of factors, health, available activities, etc... not all bars, high street shops, bowling alleys etc... are designed for the older customer.

The Samaritans say most of the calls they receive are from people living alone, suffering the issues and problems that can arise from that... especially in this country, where the wet winters are long and not very inviting to go out into, and there's so little light to lift the mood. Families are not as large as they used to be, so the support system is diminished.

I'm not at all surprised there are record numbers of people on anti-depressents in the U.K. So much so, the water supply is polluted to almost toxic levels (they often recycle water here).

 

[Jadzia]

I will conjecture that it's correlated with wealth. In the olden days, it was in people's best interest to pull together as a community, largely because of lower wealth.

For example, one of your neighbours might help you with the gardening because you're not very able to do it. While you help your neighbours by baking apple pies with the surplus of fruit you have from the trees in your garden.

Nowadays, we're better able to afford independence. So rather than community members giving assistance to one another, we're individually more inclined to pay money for commercial solutions, by employing a gardener, and throwing your surplus apples in the bin.

People nowadays often feel that they are being overly-generous to simply give surplus things away for free. It's not a pleasant mentality really. Personally, I'm all for being community spirited.

If the economic slide continues, we may find once again that playing an active role in the community brings benefit to the community.

 

[An Officer]

^ Great point. You know things are bad when you start wondering if you should start your own vegetable garden, which I've been doing...

 

[Hermiod]

If I didn't have my mum to look after, it's unlikely that I'd see or speak to anyone between the hours of 4pm (when I get home) and 6am (when I leave for work) every day.

I commute in to work, I don't know anyone around here despite living here my whole life. My mum has a few friends in our street.

 

[Kestra]

It seems like they're talking more about isolation than loneliness. I wonder if the two always go hand in hand. People seem to require different levels and amounts of social contact to feel content.

 

[WillsBabe]

I know some of my single friends feel lonely, even those who have friends and work and have family relatively close by. I live with my husband and have friends in town but I can relate to this feeling of loneliness. There's something that means I don't really feel massively part of the community. That might be me, however, not the community.

 

[Good Will Riker]

The areas which have seen the greatest change to community life have also been mapped. London has been substantially affected with large-scale immigration thought to have had a big impact on traditional neighbourhoods.

Does the above statement have anything to do with the fact that the United Kingdom, England in particular, is racially segregated in terms of communities?

I find it alarming when I read the news that the white British population and the Asian British population tend not to socialize, and instead socialize within their own respective towns and communities to the point where one has to think "I am Japanese with English citizenship" rather than think of himself as an "Englishman."

Why is this the case in the United Kingdom, England in particular, and throughout all of Europe when it comes to racial segregation of communities?

 

[An Officer]

^ I would have thought the states are worse off in this regard, with ghettos that even the police don't enter and such...

If anything, the U.K, especially London is one of the most integrated societies in the world. It's a melting pot, dude.

As to the race riots you mention, those are rare, and involve a tiny percentage of the population, and they happen in backwaters where people barely speak intelligibly, let alone understand the concept of a multi-cultural community (a bit like your "rednecks").

 

[Kestra]

I find it alarming when I read the news that the white British population and the Asian British population tend not to socialize, and instead socialize within their own respective towns and communities to the point where one has to think "I am Japanese with English citizenship" rather than think of himself as an "Englishman."

It's often like that in America, as well. I don't think it's particular to England. That's not to say there's complete segregation, but there are definitely strong ethnic communities.

 

[Jadzia]

I find it alarming when I read the news that the white British population and the Asian British population tend not to socialize, and instead socialize within their own respective towns and communities to the point where one has to think "I am Japanese with English citizenship" rather than think of himself as an "Englishman."

Why is this the case in the United Kingdom, England in particular, and throughout all of Europe when it comes to racial segregation of communities?

It is true -- and much more so in town/country than in cities. Cities are fairly integrated.

In town/country, I think a lot of English people feel uncomfortable about racial integration. The average English person (with english ancestry) is a traditionalist in the sense that they want England to continue to feel like it's historical self, and they don't want to see it evolve into "just another country".

There is a national pride, and maintaining a status quo is the way of connecting to that. English people tend to feel that alien cultures threaten the national identity by dilution. Perhaps even horrified to think that England will one day become unrecognizable from it's former self.

I would say that few English people want to see England become as racially integrated as the US. So I think this segregation is a symptom of wanting to preserve the past.

And that spills over to other racial groups because an asian immigrant into a predominantly white town, might feel that they were living in a community with zero provisions for their own racial culture (whether that's preferred religious buildings, or preferred food/shopping habits, or preferred social activities). So they feel more comfortable amongst the asian sub-communities, where there are plenty of those provisions.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Good thing the British know how to keep a stiff upper lip.

I'm not sure I buy this completely either. I also wonder how other countries would compare to Britain using the same (rather odd) criteria.