- 1 in 3 young people in the UK have a parent reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression.[1]
- More than 1 in 10 children in England have a parent with a severe mental illness.[2]
- Having a parent with mental health difficulties makes it three times more likely a child will go on to develop mental health problems themselves.[3]
- Poor parental mental health is one of the nine indicators used by the government to track the disadvantages that affect families and children’s outcomes.[4]
- Having a close family member with a mental illness is one of the ten Adverse Childhood Experiences – trauma or toxic stress that increase the risk of adult mental health problems and physical illness.[5]
- Some 68% of women and 57% of men with mental illness are parents.[6]
- Perinatal mental health problems cost the UK £8.1 billion each year. Nearly three quarters of this cost relates to the impact on the child rather than the mother.[7]
- Between 2010 – 2020, local government spending on early intervention projects (such as children’s centres, family support services and youth services) was cut by 48% to £1.8 billion. Spending on costlier late interventions (such as youth justice services, looked-after children’s services and safeguarding) increased by 34% to £7.6 billion.[8]
- The economic cost of failing to invest in the early years in 2018/19 was estimated at £16.13 billion, covering child injuries and mental health problems; children’s social care; crime and antisocial behaviour; school absence and exclusions; and youth economic inactivity. It included the long-term costs of later mental and physical health problems, and social consequences such as homelessness.[9]
References
- Understanding Society Survey 2018-19, UK Household Longitudinal Study
- Childhood Vulnerability 2019, Office of the Children’s Commissioner
- Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017, NHS
- Improving lives: helping workless families indicators 2020, Department for Work and Pensions
- Adverse childhood experiences: What we know, what we don’t know, and what should happen next, Early Intervention Foundation 2020
- The Perinatal Mental Health Toolkit, Royal College of General Practitioners
- Costs of perinatal mental health problems, Centre for Mental Health and London School of Economics, 2014
- Children and young people’s services: Spending 2010-11 to 2019-20, Pro Bono Economics and The Children’s Services Funding Alliance – compromising of Action for Children, Barnardo’s, National Children’s Bureau, NSPCC and The Children’s Society Alliance
- Big Change Starts Small, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood Report and the London School of Economics, June 2021
