" ‘Generation COVID’? The socio-economic factotrs impacting young people’s mental health in the pandemic"

 The link between mental health and its social determinants is well documented: unequal societies experience worse mental health outcomes. As such, the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the young – from mass job and income losses, to being trapped in abusive households, and paying rent for university accommodation they can’t use – has serious implications for wellbeing of 16-25s, whose mental health and emotional needs were already increasing before Covid-19.

"This is especially concerning for young people who faced multiple disadvantages. The same young people who have been hardest hit by the pandemic – including young women, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and young people living in poverty – already experienced the worst mental health prior to the crisis"

"Our briefing shows that hundreds of thousands of children and young people still go without the devices or internet needed to access education and essential services – and that this, along with school closures and reduced teaching hours, is exacerbating existing educational inequalities. It shares findings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which predict that levels of destitution in the UK will approximately double due to the pandemic, and from Turn2Us which shows millions more people are resorting to debt and a near doubling of 18-25-year-olds reporting they are frequently running out of money since before Covid-19. It highlights the pandemic’s devastating impact on 16-25-year-olds’ employment and earnings – especially on those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and disabled communities women, the self-employed and those who grew up in a poor family. It outlines the impact the past year has had on an already precarious housing market, and reports of increasing numbers of young people being trapped in abusive, unsafe homes."

"Knowing this, it comes as no surprise that young people’s mental health needs have grown in the past year. More young people are experiencing poor mental health – including relating to anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders and suicidal ideation – and more severely than before Covid-19."

Link to full report