Child mental health crisis risks long-term damage to UK

Child mental health problems will lead to £1 trillion in lost earnings across a generation, a new coalition of children's charities claims.

One in five children and young people in England has a diagnosable mental health problem – double the figure for 2017 – with the NHS only able to support 40 per cent of those in need.

The result is that "millions are suffering", and employers are losing £24 billion a year, a new report states, with "major implications for the public purse and wider economy."

The FutureMinds campaign unites charities YoungMinds, the Young People's Mental Health Coalition, the Prudence Trust and the Centre for Young Lives.

Baroness Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives and former children’s commissioner for England, said: “The decline in young people’s mental health is one of the biggest health, social and economic challenges of our time.

“Failing to adequately address it creates far costlier outcomes across a range of public services, including in health, education, welfare, policing and justice.

“It harms productivity, earnings and the government’s agenda for economic growth. Current trends are simply not sustainable.”

Spend to save

FutureMinds have produced the following costed recommendations:

• Government spending on child and adolescent mental health requires an immediate additional £167 million to meet growing need
• An extra £57 million will be needed each year to roll out mental health support teams
• Open access services embedded in communities will require £169 million per year, to run in every local authority area in England
• A workforce plan and government-commissioned review should be urgently implemented to address the recruitment and vacancy crisis in mental health services and examine the causes of the rise in mental health problems in the young

The coalition is calling for mental health services to be prioritised in the government's Spending Review and 10 Year NHS Plan. Spending needs to be restored to 2015-16 levels "to address the shortfalls in children's social care spending".

Report authors state: "We acknowledge that we are calling for additional funding at a time when public finances are strained. However, as our analysis makes clear, the immediate and long-term costs of inaction are far greater than the investment we are calling for.

"Spending on incapacity and disability benefits for working age people is forecast to increase by £29 billion by the end of this parliament, driven in large part by the rising number of young people with mental health problems.

“Our analysis shows that the impact of childhood mental health problems leads to £1 trillion in lost earnings across the generation.

"We also find that the costs of persistent absence from school – which has mirrored the rise in mental ill health – are now over £1 billion per year."

The cost of the current crisis

The campaign is backed by 35 leading mental health and children and young people's organisations.

Launching the drive, a spokesperson said: "Current lack of capacity in the mental health system means far too many young people reach crisis point, putting pressure on emergency, urgent and crisis services. The immediate and long-term costs of inaction are far greater than the investment we could make now in cost-effective interventions that can help to turn the tide."

The cost of deteriorating mental health between referral and receiving support is said to be £295 million a year.

There has been a 65 per cent rise in the use of acute beds by children and young people due to mental ill health. 

Persistent absence from school cost the public purse £1.17 billion in 2023-4.

FutureMinds researchers note: “It is 100 times cheaper to treat a young person in the community than as an inpatient. However, we cannot benefit from these efficiency savings without building capacity in the system first. That requires upfront investment."

Local government reaction

Responding to the FutureMinds research, Cllr Arooj Shah, chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said: “The growing children’s mental health crisis needs to be recognised as an urgent social concern and tackled with a cross-government plan to support children and young people.

“In addition to adequately funding children’s services in the upcoming Spending Review, councils have set out a series of steps the Government should take.

“These include reviewing mental health support teams in schools, with a named mental health professional supporting each school.

“Councils should be supported to provide parenting support programmes and to set up local peer support networks for parents and carers with children with mental health needs.

“We would also like to see mental health training become a core element of training for all staff that support children and young people.

“Together we believe these measures can help every child get the help they need, when they need it, and enjoy the safe, happy and healthy childhood they deserve.”

Response from Westminster

A government spokesperson said: “Young people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why this government will fix the broken system and ensure mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health.

“We’ve already announced £26 million to open new mental health crisis centres, and as part of our Plan for Change, we will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school and recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers.”

“We are committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and recognise the importance of this to our number one mission – economic growth.”

New children's mental health toolkit launched

Children's charity Coram has created a free new toolkit for social workers and other professionals working with families aimed at reducing the impact of harmful conflict.

Launched to concide with Children's Mental Health Week, the Family Harmony Tookit provides a framework for working with families experiencing difficulties communicating and struggling with other pressures.

It has been developed in collaboration with the Department for Work and Pensions and aims improve emotional regulation, mindfulness, attentive listening and promote calming techniques within families to improve children's mental health.