Blue Monday in the Loneliest Month
We all feel the Monday blues occasionally, when a great weekend ends, but did you know that today (18th January 2016) is actually known as ‘Blue Monday’ – the most depressing day of the year. This is because today is likely to be the day when credit card bills roll in, work starts getting busier after the Christmas break, the weather gets colder, and Christmas becomes a distant memory.
And research that we’ve shared today, goes a step further, showing that January is also the loneliest month of all.
- Over a quarter of people (26%) view January as the month they feel most lonely, outstripping all other months
- Weekends are also marked out as a low point for Brits with almost a fifth (18%) of people saying that this is the time they feel lonely
- In our increasingly time-pressed society, only 10% of people think of looking out for people who might be lonely at the weekend
- Over a fifth of people (21%) also said they felt the angst of loneliness most on the birthday of a loved one who has passed away
The aim of the research was to highlight the issue of loneliness, the subject of our Charity Partnership and it has been included in a number of articles about this year’s Blue Monday…
Month of the year people feel most lonely
| Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| February | 10% | 11% | 8% |
| March | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| April | 4% | 2% | 5% |
| May | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| June | 4% | 3% | 4% |
| July | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| August | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| September | 4% | 2% | 6% |
| October | 5% | 6% | 4% |
| November | 9% | 9% | 8% |
| December | 22% | 24% | 22% |
Sample size 1,123
Loneliness was also the subject of a recent documentary on BBC One called The Age of Loneliness, which showed that it is an issue that affects people from all walks of life.
There’s still time to catch it on the BBC iPlayer
But to keep up to date with our campaign to tackle loneliness, keep an eye on the #campaigningcoop hashtag or visit the campaign pages on our website.
