A study conducted by the Fondation de France points out that social isolation has clearly increased, especially among young people in France.

The Covid-19 pandemic has strongly affected the quality and frequency of social relationships, therefore, in France in 2021, 1 person out of 4 is isolated.

More globally, the study reports that 54% of people are socially isolated or have only one sociability network: 24% suffer from relational isolation (a net increase compared to January 2020) and 30% have only one sociability network, which makes them more vulnerable.

Youth are particularly affected by the pandemic: 33% of young people express a feeling of loneliness vs. 14% of those aged 60 and over. This feeling has increased, while it remains stable for the rest of the population.

Overall, young people have less contact with their sociability networks, especially the friendship network. They all agree that taking distance learning classes was particularly difficult as learning was slowed down, and the risk of dropping out of school increased.

Currently, 21% of French young people (15-30 years old) are in a situation of social isolation and, even more worrying, they are the most numerous to have a feeling of abandon, exclusion or worthlessness : 54% vs. 35% for the rest of the population.

The synthesis or the entire study (in French), are available here:

• Synthesis: https://www.fondationdefrance.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/credoc_4_page_15_novembre_2021.pdf
• Complete study: https://www.fondationdefrance.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/credoc_-_edition_2021_du_barometre_des_solitudes_15_novembre_2021.pdf