Loneliness: A Public Health Crisis – Part 5: Tackling A Trillion Dollar Epidemic
Loneliness drains resources through healthcare costs, lost productivity, and weakened communities. But the inverse is also true: connected individuals are more engaged, healthier, and more productive. They build vibrant communities that, in turn, fuel economic growth.
See all insights in the “Loneliness: A Public Health Crisis” series here.
The Economic Advantages of Addressing Loneliness
As the loneliness epidemic builds, it is becoming a critically expensive public health challenge for modern economies to manage.1 Reports have found excess costs from mental health conditions totaled around $477.5 billion in 2024—and, if trends continue, cumulative spending could approach $14 trillion by 2040, driven in part by chronic loneliness and its mental health impacts.2 These costs stem from increased emergency department utilization, reduced workplace productivity, premature mortality, and a wide range of other consequences linked to social isolation.3 The federal government bears a significant share of these expenses, as loneliness contributes directly to higher Medicare spending.4 Addressing the loneliness epidemic is both a public health imperative and an economic one, with clear benefits for both federal and state budgets and broader societal well-being.
Examples of Interventions Abroad
Countries like the United Kingdom have taken formal steps to recognize and respond to loneliness. Since appointing a Minister for Loneliness in 2018, the U.K. has embedded social prescribing into its healthcare system, a model of care in which health professionals formally refer patients to non-clinical, community-based activities to improve health and foster social connection.5 Today, an estimated 20% of patients are referred for primarily social concerns, offering a model with promising implications for global adoption.6 These social prescribing programs reflect a broader understanding of health that includes social connection as a determinant of physical and mental wellness.
Looking beyond the U.K., Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden consistently report the lowest rates of loneliness in the world.7 A cross-national study found that only 16.6% of older adults in Denmark and 18.8% in Norway report feeling lonely, compared to significantly higher rates in other high-income countries.8 These countries benefit from strong social cohesion, cultural traditions that prioritize community, and robust investments in “third spaces” such as libraries, parks, and civic centers where people connect outside of work and home. 9
And these social outcomes are reinforced by universal, publicly funded healthcare systems that treat mental and social health as integrated priorities.10 In Sweden, for instance, healthcare spending reached 11.2% of GDP in 2021, with mental health services embedded in primary care through the employment of psychologists in local health centers.11 This enables early detection and management of isolation, particularly among older adults, and connects health systems directly to social outcomes.
Their strong economies also play a critical role. With relatively low-income inequality and high levels of social investment, Nordic countries are able to allocate public funds toward programs that encourage civic participation, intergenerational connection, and workplace flexibility.12 For example, Swedes work an average 1,431 hours per year – 18% less than their high-income country peers – thereby reducing stress and enabling financial and emotional capacity to engage with their communities.13 In this way, public health, economic strength, and social connection are not treated as separate challenges but as interconnected parts of a broader societal ecosystem.
Solutions for the United States to Ease the Loneliness Epidemic
To mirror the success seen abroad and to reverse rising loneliness rates at home, the United States should adopt strategies that reflect the unique demographic makeup, geographic diversity, and economic structure of American life.
Healthcare
Social prescribing should become a standard part of U.S. healthcare. This model allows providers to formally refer patients to non-clinical, community-based resources, like group exercise, art therapy, volunteer programs, or nature engagement, that address the social drivers of poor health. These services are especially valuable in rural areas and aging communities, where traditional healthcare infrastructure may be stretched and social resources limited.
Workplace Culture
Employers should treat connection-building programs as essential productivity strategies, not perks. When employees—especially remote, hybrid, and service-sector workers—feel disconnected, engagement drops and burnout rises. When employees feel connected to their teams and purpose, engagement and performance rise, while burnout and turnover fall. In a service-based economy, these relational dynamics drive growth. While such interventions can work for many employees, others who work in less traditional workplaces, like contract or gig workers, may not have the privilege of workplace community and will need interventions that enable more free time that allow them to connect with others outside of work.
Community Infrastructure
Public gathering spaces are foundational to social connection – but they are under threat. Communities—especially rural towns, underserved urban neighborhoods, and aging suburbs—are losing the shared spaces that once anchored civic life. Library visits have declined by 44% since the pandemic, and federal funding for libraries was recently cut. 14 Rather than scaling back, governments should invest in “third spaces” as essential infrastructure. Parks, libraries, senior centers, and other public spaces foster belonging, and in doing so, reduce downstream healthcare costs and strengthen civic life.
Intergenerational Connection
Increasing connectedness between individuals in different generations has demonstrated success on reducing loneliness – both for older and younger generations.15 Promoting intergenerational households and investing in programs that foster relationships between the youth and older adults would have significant benefits on the loneliness epidemic. Programs like Bridge Meadows in Oregon, demonstrate how intentionally co-locating older adults with foster families and youth can create communities rooted in mutual support, daily connection, and shared purpose. Older residents report significantly reduced isolation and greater emotional resilience, while children benefit from stable, multigenerational relationships. With targeted investment from federal and local governments, intergenerational and mixed-income housing could become a scalable strategy to combat loneliness while strengthening families, neighborhoods, and public health outcomes.16
Thought Series Conclusion
This series has shown that loneliness is not just emotional hardship—it’s a systemic challenge rooted in our demographics, shaped by geography, and exacerbated by economic inequality. But it is also solvable. Countries that invest in connection through healthcare, housing, and community design see returns in both human and economic terms. The U.S. now faces a choice: continue bearing the cost of disconnection, or take bold, cross-sector action to strengthen our social fabric.
A national strategy that treats connection as core to health, economic growth, and equity is not only visionary, but also necessary. The most resilient, prosperous societies of the future will be the ones that invest in human belonging.
About the Series
In the “Loneliness: A Public Health Crisis on a Mental Health Revolution” thought series, FTI Consulting experts delve into the pervasive impact of loneliness, examining its physical, psychological, and societal dimensions. The series aims to illuminate the nuanced challenges of loneliness and advocate for collaborative, targeted interventions to combat its effects and foster stronger, more connected communities. The first installment explores loneliness as a global challenge and its profound effects on mental and physical health, and its growing recognition among global policymakers. The second installment focuses on how loneliness impacts different age groups, highlighting the male loneliness epidemic that is growing by the minute. The third installment highlights the geography of loneliness and how the urban and rural divide contributed to the feeling of isolation. The fourth installment discusses the socioeconomic impact of loneliness and how it’s both a symptom and a consequence of economic instability. The final installment explores solutions to address the loneliness epidemic. See all insights in the series here.
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[1] Dawes, Daniel E. et al.,“The projected costs and economic impact of mental health inequities in the United States,” Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (MY 15, 2024), https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/economic-burden-mental-health-inequities.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Shaw, Jonathan G. et al., “Social Isolation and Medicare Spending: Among Older Adults, Objective Social Isolation Increases Expenditures while Loneliness Does Not,” Journal of Aging and Health (September 17, 2017), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5847278/
[5] Husk, Kerryn et al., “Social prescribing: where is the evidence?,” British Journal of General Practice (January 2019), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6301369/
[6] Ibid.
[7] Surkalim, Daniel et al., “The prevalence of loneliness across 113 countries: systematic review and meta-analysis,” British Medical Journal (February 9, 2022), https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-067068
[8] Dahlberg, Lena et al., “A social exclusion perspective on loneliness in older adults in the Nordic countries,” European Journal of Ageing (March 29, 2022), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9156591
[9] “OECD Better Life Index,” Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (N/A), https://www.oecd.org/en/data/tools/oecd-better-life-index.html#:~:text=A%20strong%20social%20network%2C%20or,the%20OECD%20average%20of%2091%25.
[10] “Health at a Glance 2023,” Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (November 7, 2023), https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2023/11/health-at-a-glance-2023_e04f8239/full-report/health-expenditure-in-relation-to-gdp_e3566919.html
[11] Ruud, Torleif and Svein Friis, “Community-based Mental Health Services in Norway,” Consortium Psychiatricum (March 20, 2021), https://consortium-psy.com/jour/article/view/43/pdf
[12] Holter, Hans and Ana Ferreira, “Inequality and Fiscal Multipliers: Implications for Economic Policy in the Nordic Countries,” Nordic Economic Policy Review 2024 (June 2024), https://pub.norden.org/nord2024-001/inequality-and-fiscal-multipliers-implications-for-economic-policy-in-the-nordic-countries.html
[13] “OECD Data Explorer,” Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_HW%40DF_AVG_ANN_HRS_WKD&df[ag]=OECD.ELS.SAE&dq=AUS%2BAUT%2BBEL%2BCAN%2BCHL%2BCOL%2BCRI%2BCZE%2BDNK%2BEST%2BFIN%2BFRA%2BDEU%2BGRC%2BHUN%2BISL%2BIRL%2BISR%2BITA%2BJPN%2BKOR%2BLVA%2BLTU%2BLUX%2BMEX%2BNLD%2BNZL%2BNOR%2BPOL%2BPRT%2BSVK%2BSVN%2BESP%2BSWE%2BCHE%2BTUR%2BGBR%2BUSA%2BOECD…….._T….&lc=en&pd=2010%2C&to[TIME_PERIOD]=false&vw=tb&
[14] Rich, Hallie, “Hungry for Connection: Addressing Loneliness Through the Library,” Library Journal (February 5, 2024), https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/news/hungry-for-connection-addressing-loneliness-through-the-library
[15] Huang, Ruyi et al., “The effect of intergenerational support from children on loneliness among older adults-the moderating effect of internet usage and intergenerational distance,” Frontiers in Public Health (April 8, 2024), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11036867/
[16] “How It Works,” Bridge Meadows (N/A), https://bridgemeadows.org/
