Quarter of Gen Z suffer long-term mental health issues in blow to Reeves’s growth plans
Almost a quarter of Gen Z claim to have long-term mental health conditions, new figures show, fuelling a surge in worklessness that threatens to derail Rachel Reeves’s growth plans.
A survey carried out by PwC revealed that more than 1m 18 to 24-year-olds were struggling with their mental health, which accounted for 22pc of the Gen Z age group.
That is compared to an average of 8pc across the entire population, demonstrating the challenge facing the Government as it seeks to get youngsters back into work.
The current number of people who are economically inactive – defined as being of working age but neither in work nor looking for a job – is 9.4m, up from 8.4m before the pandemic.
Long-term sickness has been cited as a major driver of the increase, with analysts warning that this could have a significant impact on the overall economy.
Barret Kupelian, chief economist at PwC UK, said the Chancellor had no chance of hitting her growth targets unless she could solve the mental health crisis among Gen Z.
He said: “If the new Government is to realise its economic growth ambitions it will need to focus on young people to avoid the long-term impacts young workers felt after the 2008 financial crisis.
“There are huge social as well as national and economic benefits to taking action to decrease youth unemployment.”
According to PwC, its research found that almost 50pc of inactive youngsters said they would be more likely to return to work if employers offered more mental health support.
One in five said that their condition was preventing them from pursuing their favoured career.
As well as harming growth, Mr Kupelian said ill health was also threatening the Government’s bid to boost the employment rate from 74.4pc to a record high of 80pc.
He said: “It will be virtually impossible to push employment rates higher from the current 74pc, if we don’t tackle new emerging issues such as mental health which seems to be much more prevalent amongst the workers of the future.”
Mr Kupelian estimated that if the UK could reduce its rate of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) to match the lowest regional rate, it would give the economy a significant boost.
“We calculate that UK GDP could increase by around one percentage point if the national NEET rate matches that of the South West, which is the best-performing region in the country,” he said.
This would be a significant contributor to the Government’s goal of growing GDP per head at the fastest rate in the G7.
“There is a blueprint for change evidenced by other OECD countries with low NEET levels; provide robust vocational training and apprenticeship systems, alongside initiatives to set young people up for a smooth transition from education to work through regimes that connect students with industry,” said Mr Kupelian.
“Building aspiration for young people who currently feel they are without will be crucial for the UK to reverse NEET levels.”