The charity Independent Age has called on the government to do more for a problem that largely goes unseen. Research from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a collaboration involving University College London, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, NatCen Social Research and Manchester University, found that loneliness affects close to half of all men over 50. And as society continues to age and live longer, the number of older men living alone is expected to swell to 1.5 million by 2030, hugely increasing the health and social care impacts of isolation.