Sylke V. Schnepf (PhD) is a senior policy advisor in the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. She is part of the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) team conducting research on survey design, fairness and loneliness. She also contributes to the Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation through research, teaching and advisory activities on quantitative education policy evaluation. Before joining the JRC in 2014, she was an associate professor in social statistics at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Dr Schnepf has a long publication record on patterns of cross-national educational inequalities and counterfactual impact evaluation of policies aimed at mitigating these inequalities. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the JRC and a research fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, Germany.Béatrice d’Hombres (PhD) leads the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) within the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. She is the coordinator for the European Parliament Pilot Project on Loneliness at the JRC. With over 17 years of experience as a researcher and policy analyst at the JRC, Dr d’Hombres has worked in various fields, including labour economics, health economics and education economics, using applied econometric statistics and survey data analysis methodologies. Her research has been published in international journals such as the European Economic Review, Health Economics, Social Science & Medicine, the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy and Social Indicators Research.Caterina Mauri (PhD) is a post-doctoral researcher at the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, contributing to the INEQKILL project – an interdisciplinary research initiative focusing on the long-term evolution of mortality inequalities from 1800 to the present day. Dr Mauri holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southern Denmark and has previously worked at the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Her research interests include loneliness and mental well-being, fairness and inequality perceptions, regional and urban economics, the labour market for artists and creatives, art consumption and innovation and technology in history.

• Part I. Introduction.- Chapter 1. Loneliness: an underestimated public health threat (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 2. Measuring loneliness: the European Union Loneliness Survey covering 27 European countries (Caterina Mauri).- Part II. Loneliness and Its Associates.- Chapter 3. Who feels lonely in the European Union? (Francesco Berlingieri).- Chapter 4. Childhood experiences, health and loneliness (Matija Kovacic).- Chapter 5. Social media use and loneliness (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 6. Loneliness, societal preferences and political attitudes (Alexander Langenkamp).- Part III. Loneliness Interventions And Conclusions.- Chapter 7.  Counteracting the effects of loneliness: empirical research and policy interventions (Elizabeth J. Casabianca).- Chapter 8. Taking stock of loneliness in the European Union: a future pathway (Sylke V. Schnepf).

Sylke V. Schnepf (PhD) is a senior policy advisor in the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. She is part of the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) team conducting research on survey design, fairness and loneliness. She also contributes to the Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation through research, teaching and advisory activities on quantitative education policy evaluation. Before joining the JRC in 2014, she was an associate professor in social statistics at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Dr Schnepf has a long publication record on patterns of cross-national educational inequalities and counterfactual impact evaluation of policies aimed at mitigating these inequalities. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the JRC and a research fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, Germany.Béatrice d’Hombres (PhD) leads the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) within the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. She is the coordinator for the European Parliament Pilot Project on Loneliness at the JRC. With over 17 years of experience as a researcher and policy analyst at the JRC, Dr d’Hombres has worked in various fields, including labour economics, health economics and education economics, using applied econometric statistics and survey data analysis methodologies. Her research has been published in international journals such as the European Economic Review, Health Economics, Social Science & Medicine, the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy and Social Indicators Research.Caterina Mauri (PhD) is a post-doctoral researcher at the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, contributing to the INEQKILL project – an interdisciplinary research initiative focusing on the long-term evolution of mortality inequalities from 1800 to the present day. Dr Mauri holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southern Denmark and has previously worked at the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Her research interests include loneliness and mental well-being, fairness and inequality perceptions, regional and urban economics, the labour market for artists and creatives, art consumption and innovation and technology in history.

• Part I. Introduction.- Chapter 1. Loneliness: an underestimated public health threat (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 2. Measuring loneliness: the European Union Loneliness Survey covering 27 European countries (Caterina Mauri).- Part II. Loneliness and Its Associates.- Chapter 3. Who feels lonely in the European Union? (Francesco Berlingieri).- Chapter 4. Childhood experiences, health and loneliness (Matija Kovacic).- Chapter 5. Social media use and loneliness (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 6. Loneliness, societal preferences and political attitudes (Alexander Langenkamp).- Part III. Loneliness Interventions And Conclusions.- Chapter 7.  Counteracting the effects of loneliness: empirical research and policy interventions (Elizabeth J. Casabianca).- Chapter 8. Taking stock of loneliness in the European Union: a future pathway (Sylke V. Schnepf).

Sylke V. Schnepf (PhD) is a senior policy advisor in the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy. She is part of the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) team conducting research on survey design, fairness and loneliness. She also contributes to the Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation through research, teaching and advisory activities on quantitative education policy evaluation. Before joining the JRC in 2014, she was an associate professor in social statistics at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Dr Schnepf has a long publication record on patterns of cross-national educational inequalities and counterfactual impact evaluation of policies aimed at mitigating these inequalities. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the JRC and a research fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, Germany.Béatrice d’Hombres (PhD) leads the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre (SMAC) within the Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. She is the coordinator for the European Parliament Pilot Project on Loneliness at the JRC. With over 17 years of experience as a researcher and policy analyst at the JRC, Dr d’Hombres has worked in various fields, including labour economics, health economics and education economics, using applied econometric statistics and survey data analysis methodologies. Her research has been published in international journals such as the European Economic Review, Health Economics, Social Science & Medicine, the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy and Social Indicators Research.Caterina Mauri (PhD) is a post-doctoral researcher at the Brussels Institute for Social and Population Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, contributing to the INEQKILL project – an interdisciplinary research initiative focusing on the long-term evolution of mortality inequalities from 1800 to the present day. Dr Mauri holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southern Denmark and has previously worked at the Survey Methods and Analysis Centre of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Her research interests include loneliness and mental well-being, fairness and inequality perceptions, regional and urban economics, the labour market for artists and creatives, art consumption and innovation and technology in history.

• Part I. Introduction.- Chapter 1. Loneliness: an underestimated public health threat (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 2. Measuring loneliness: the European Union Loneliness Survey covering 27 European countries (Caterina Mauri).- Part II. Loneliness and Its Associates.- Chapter 3. Who feels lonely in the European Union? (Francesco Berlingieri).- Chapter 4. Childhood experiences, health and loneliness (Matija Kovacic).- Chapter 5. Social media use and loneliness (Béatrice d’Hombres).- Chapter 6. Loneliness, societal preferences and political attitudes (Alexander Langenkamp).- Part III. Loneliness Interventions And Conclusions.- Chapter 7.  Counteracting the effects of loneliness: empirical research and policy interventions (Elizabeth J. Casabianca).- Chapter 8. Taking stock of loneliness in the European Union: a future pathway (Sylke V. Schnepf).