In 2024, Australia was apparently the 10th happiest place on Earth. But many older people weren't feeling it.
New research from the National Seniors Australia Research team has shown some of the ways that older Australians are feeling isolated and dissatisfied with their daily lives.
In our 2024 National Seniors Social Survey, we asked 5,000+ older people four questions about these matters.
Three-quarters of them (76%) faced no barriers to getting out and about in their local area.
Even more (85%) had maintained or regained social connections disrupted by COVID.
Just over half (55%) never or rarely felt lonely, and another quarter (27%) only felt lonely occasionally.
And almost all (90%) were content or generally content with how they spend their time.
These numbers seem like good news, and they are. It's encouraging that the majority of older people surveyed felt connected to others and content with their lives in a daily sense.
But spare a thought for the sizeable minority not in that situation.
Looking at the numbers from the other side, we see that one quarter of those surveyed face barriers to getting out and about, 15% had connections permanently disrupted by COVID, 18% were lonely some or most of the time, and 10% would like to spend their time differently.
The question about obstacles to getting around had a set list of possible barriers to choose from. Respondents were invited to write comments elaborating on their answers or nominating additional barriers.
The barriers identified by the largest number of people were inadequate public transport and personal safety issues, each selected by 9-10% of all respondents.
Inadequate pathways, shelters, or rest areas were a problem for 6%. Heavy traffic and inadequate public toilets each restricted 5% of survey respondents from getting out and about.
Commenters also listed health conditions, mobility limitations, and fatigue as barriers, as well as cost.
In terms of the disruption COVID posed to social connections, around half the respondents said their relationships had bounced back (48%), and another quarter said there was no disruption in the first place (23%).
In comments, many reported maintaining relationships via phone, videoconferencing, or similar methods.
Rather sadly, another 7% said they had very few or no connections prior to COVID.
Of the remaining respondents, most (14%) said they had regained their connections, but that COVID had permanently changed the way they connected now.
Some saw loved ones less often, having gotten out of the habit. Others remained cautious about socialising given the risk posed by the virus even today.
Around a tenth (9%) said they had been unable to regain their social connections, but a third of those had made new ones instead.
Connections had been lost by groups shutting down because of the pandemic, loved ones disagreeing about COVID measures, or people dying from the illness, among other reasons.
It will not surprise anyone to learn that many older people feel lonely because their loved ones live far away, old connections have waned over time, and people have sadly passed away.
Facing problems alone made many people lonely, even if they were in a relationship - for example, if they were caring for a dependent spouse who could no longer do the things they used to do together.
Carers also felt the sting of loneliness when their caring duties kept them from socialising with other friends, family, and community members.
Interestingly, a number of commenters wrote that keeping busy was their antidote to loneliness.
Some didn't even mention loneliness in their answer even though that was the only thing the question asked about - just writing they had lots to do so they were fine.
For example, one person wrote, "Days are always busy with home activities or hobbies".
Another simply stayed happy as a matter of principle, writing, "I have a positive and happy disposition. There is enough sadness around without me adding to it".
Around half of the respondents (47%) said they were generally content with how they spend their time but would like to change some things.
Many of the comments written by this group showed the changes they were interested in were moderate - for example, working a few more hours, engaging a bit more in hobbies, or socialising more often.
But a tenth wanted huge changes in their lives. Their comments talked about big issues, such as wanting freedom from chronic pain, from work, from caring duties, from loneliness, bad relationships, or boredom.
Read NSA's Social connectedness and isolation among older Australians report here .
