Loneliness is a familiar topic to the team at Square Holes, having covered its effects via both articles and research projects over the past many years.

Our deep dive into loneliness in South Australia began in 2020, when not-for-profit organisation Uniting Communities,  recognising a lack of local data,  contacted us about starting a foundational research project on loneliness in the state.

Rachael Pearse, Uniting Communities Advocacy Project Officer, says the drive behind the project was to gain greater insight into a growing issue.

“The motive behind it originally, back in 2020 when the work started, was around loneliness as a growing issue and wanting to raise more awareness and attention towards the topic. And as a result of that, we wanted to actually start some South Australian-based data, as there wasn’t any at the time. And that’s when we got involved with Square Holes and got the data through those surveys,” says Pearse.

As we explored in our article last week on third spaces, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 40% of Australians reported experiencing loneliness at least some of the time in the previous week in April 2025.

Uniting Communities 2026 report found that more than half of South Australians (55%) report feeling lonely sometimes or often. The number of people feeling lonely ‘often’ climbed to 14% this year, the highest level recorded since 2023.

Pearse says that the key outcomes from the continuous dataset have been around the prevalence of loneliness in the younger demographic, and those in 45 – 59 age bracket.

“I think consistently over the years, the key takeaway has been the young adult age group consistently showing really high levels of loneliness and lacking companionship. And then also the middle age group as well, that around 50 to 54, as well being the two highest quite consistently over the years. That’s been a big takeaway,” says Pearse.

She adds that another stark learning to come from the ongoing dataset was, “that feelings of loneliness often were significantly higher for those on the lowest income,” with 27% of South Australians earning under $40,000 reporting feeling lonely ‘often,’ compared with just 5% of those earning above $80,000.

When asked about how to build a sense of belonging for people who feel lonely or isolated, Pearse says there isn’t one easy solution.

“It’s a challenging area, because I think there’s no one experience of loneliness, which can then mean that there’s no one solution to it. But across our services, we see the link between other issues present in people’s lives resulting in them becoming increasingly isolated or lacking connection. So it’s kind of embedded across our work because when we address other challenges and enrich people’s lives in other ways, they’re then able to increase friendships and community in their own lives, which we’ve seen that link,” says Pearse.

“For some young people, overcoming loneliness is linked to finding opportunities to connect with like-minded people and build meaningful relationships. For others, it may involve addressing the circumstances that make it difficult to connect with others, whether those are personal, physical or systemic barriers.”

Informed by other research, the Uniting Communities 2026 report defines the causes (including the risks and protective factors) of loneliness as: societal, community, relationship and individual.

Societal
Broader social and cultural influences, including attitudes towards interacting with strangers, individualism, work–life balance, stigma surrounding loneliness, insular communities, digital technology, political conditions and financial pressures.

Community
Opportunities and barriers to community participation, including the availability of social activities and shared spaces, access to support services, transport infrastructure, neighbourhood safety and a sense of community belonging.

Relationships
The strength and quality of connections with family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and wider social networks. The quality of relationships is often more important than the number of connections.

Individual
Personal circumstances and experiences, including physical and mental health, income, confidence, habits, identity and emotional wellbeing. Significant life transitions, such as moving house, living alone, losing employment, becoming a parent or experiencing family breakdown, can also influence social connection.

Exacerbating these factors are the stigma around loneliness, the cost of living crisis, rising unemployment rates, and regional vulnerabilities.

What the research continues to highlight is that loneliness is not simply about being alone, but about the circumstances that shape our ability to connect with others. While building stronger relationships is important, addressing loneliness also means looking at the wider social, economic and community conditions that can make connection difficult.

Ultimately, tackling loneliness requires more than encouraging people to reach out. It requires creating communities, spaces and opportunities where people feel welcome, supported and, most importantly, that they belong.

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >