A report calling for action on Britain’s mental health crisis has found that young people are more likely to lose their jobs due to poor health than those in their early 40s.
Resolution suggests that people in their early 20s with mental health problems may not have had access to a stable education and are more likely to be unemployed or take low-paying jobs. This was revealed through a foundation investigation.
According to official data, 34% of 18-24 year olds reported symptoms of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder in 2021-22.
This is a significant increase compared to 24% in 2000, and young women are 1.5 times more likely to be adversely affected.
Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “While attention to this issue tends to focus on higher education, we are most concerned about the link between poor mental health and poor educational outcomes. In that case,” he said.
“The economic impact of poor mental health is most pronounced for young people not attending university, with one in three young non-graduates with common mental disorders currently unemployed. ”
She added: “To address this mental health crisis, we need to improve support services at currently underserved universities and provide better support for repeat candidates to help everyone build up their qualifications.” We need to provide it,” he added.
The report, which called for government action, also found that 79% of 18-24-year-olds who are unemployed due to poor health have qualifications below GCSE level. This represents her 34% of the total population in that age group.
Meanwhile, 12% of 11- to 16-year-olds with poor mental health missed 15 or more days of school during the fall 2023 semester, compared with 1 in 50 of their healthy classmates, the report said. Stated.
Joe Bibby, director of health at the Health Foundation, said: ‘Policy makers need to build on the building blocks of health, such as good employment and education, to ensure young people have the support they need and the means to travel the world. We need to focus on the elements.” As an adult.
“Without concerted action between governments, we risk creating a ‘lost generation’ of poor health.”
The report found that children aged 11 to 14 with poor mental health are three times more likely to fail five GCSEs, including maths and English, than healthy children.
By 2022, 40% of working 18-24 year olds with a mental health problem were in low-paying jobs, compared to 35% of healthier age groups. A third of young people with mental health problems and without a degree are unemployed, compared to 17% of graduates with the same condition.
The study concluded that efforts to tackle the prevalence of poor mental health in the UK should focus on low-quality young people.
They also called for greater mental health support to be made available at universities and sixth-form schools, and for further efforts to ensure fewer people drop out of compulsory education due to low qualification levels.
