Baby boomers are the loneliest generation

• By the numbers: "About one in 11 Amer­i­cans age 50 and older lacks a spouse, part­ner or liv­ing child, cen­sus fig­ures and other re­search show. That amounts to about eight mil­lion peo­ple in the U.S. with­out close kin, the main source of companionship in old age, and their share of the pop­u­la­tion is pro­jected to grow."

"Pol­icy mak­ers are con­cerned this will strain the fed­eral bud­get and un­der­mine baby boomers’ health."

• "Re­searchers have found that lone­li­ness takes a phys­i­cal toll, and is as closely linked to early mor­tal­ity as smok­ing up to 15 cig­a­rettes a day or con­sum­ing more than six al­co­holic drinks a day."
• "Lone­li­ness is even worse for longevity than be­ing obese or physically inactive."

Go deeper: How loneliness hurts your health