Britain has become a 'lonelier' place over the past 30 years, where even your neighbour's a stranger
By
Steve Doughty
Last updated at 7:43 AM on 02nd December 2008
Britain is an increasingly lonely country where even our neighbours are strangers, research suggests.
The breakdown of family ties and more people moving around the country for jobs have contributed to a society without roots or ties.
Researchers say that the fragmentation of the UK started in the late 1960s, but has accelerated over the past decade.
Britain is an increasingly lonely country, according to new research
They believe that even the least cohesive communities of the early 1970s had stronger ties than any community now.
Divorce, immigration and large transitory student populations have also played a role in weakening neighbourhood bonds, the report found.
There is also greater movement for retirement, or for better schools and lifestyles.
The report, prepared for the BBC by researchers at Sheffield University, picked out districts where the fewest people have roots and most share 'a feeling of not belonging'.
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These include Holyrood in Edinburgh, Headingley in Leeds, Hyde Park in London, and the university district of Cardiff.
The index is based on the national census of 2001 and the Office for National Statistics' population estimates for 2006.
Stoke-on-Trent, which scored 22.4 on the index, is among the towns where locals are most likely to stay put - and to which few outsiders are attracted.
The Changing UK report showed that where people live increasingly depends on how well off or how old they are.
But it rejected the idea of a racial divide, saying that Britain 'is less segregated by race and ethnicity that in was in 1991'.
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Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below?
Well, all I know is that I am lonely!
Succesive governments have led us to this situation by downgrading marriage and promoting lone living and 'alternative' weddings.
I was brought up in the 40's & 50's when familly life was the most important thing.
We have to bring back the ideal of marriage, it should be promoted in schools, we then, after a generation, will have less troublesome teanagers and more stable parenting.
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Nulab has ruined the fabric of this once great country. If only we could turn the clock back to the 1950s when people respected those in authority and there was no PC brigade.
- Jim Carter, Worcester, 02/12/2008 12:39