Does living alone shorten your life?

Living alone is a household fact measured separately from loneliness and social isolation. Evidence regarding its impact on mortality is mixed and depends on socioeconomic factors. A meta-analysis of 148 studies found that binary indicators of residential status, such as living alone versus with others, had the lowest association with survival compared to other social measures, with an odds ratio of 1.19 (Holt-Lunstad, 2010). However, another meta-analysis indicated that living alone, loneliness, and social isolation each significantly increase the risk of premature death (Holt-Lunstad, 2015). A study of 3,346 men followed for 32 years found that living alone was a significant predictor of mortality, with a hazard ratio of 1.23 for all-cause mortality and 1.36 for cardiovascular mortality (Jensen, 2019). Notably, this risk was modified by socioeconomic position (SEP). There was no significant mortality association for those in the highest SEP, whereas those in the lowest SEP faced a hazard ratio of 1.58 for all-cause mortality (Jensen, 2019). In a study of U.S. adults over age 60, 18% lived alone, but loneliness served as the specific predictor of an increased risk of death with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.45 (Perissinotto, 2012).

Sources

  1. Holt-Lunstad J et al., 2015 — Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review Read the source
  2. Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010 — Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review Read the source
  3. Wang F et al., 2023 — A systematic review and meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies of social isolation, loneliness and mortality Read the source
  4. Holt-Lunstad et al., 2018 — Why Social Relationships Are Important for Physical Health: A Systems Approach to Understanding and Modifying Risk and Protection Read the source
  5. Jensen et al., 2019 — Living alone is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: 32 years of follow-up in the Copenhagen Male Study Read the source
  6. Steptoe et al., 2013 — Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women Read the source
  7. Perissinotto et al., 2012 — Loneliness in Older Persons: A Predictor of Functional Decline and Death Read the source
  8. Pantell et al., 2013 — Social Isolation: A Predictor of Mortality Comparable to Traditional Clinical Risk Factors Read the source
  9. Hilliard et al., 2026 — Investigating relationships between loneliness, social isolation and health Read the source