As far as economic growth-boosting measures go, investment in the mental health of our young people is far from a gamble.

New Public First research for Citizens UK and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) highlights the scale of the mental health emergency among children and young people – and the economic case for universal counselling provision in schools and colleges. We find that universal access to school and college-based counselling for young people in England would generate lifetime fiscal benefits to the government of £1.9 billion, against an annual cost of about £250 million.  

A fifth of eight to 16 year-olds now have a probable mental health condition, with rates of mental illness more than 50% higher than as recently as 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout from it have only made things worse. 

Our analysis of NHS survey data and other evidence shows the very real consequences of this: young people with a probable mental health condition are seven times more likely to miss more than 15 days of schooling in an academic year. Theyare also 50% less likely to agree that they enjoy learning at school, and twice as likely to end up on welfare benefits in adulthood. 

Poor mental health among the young is an economic issue as well as a social one. It results in increased pressures on public services – from healthcare to the education system to criminal justice. And, through worsening employment prospects in later life, it erodes the tax base. Politicians wanting to address the elevated rates of worklessness since the pandemic – and the UK’s recent lacklustre record on economic growth – need to take young people’s mental health seriously. 

Yet at present there are huge gaps in access to treatment: less than half of those with a probable mental health condition are accessing Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS). This access rate falls to just 22% when measuring entering treatment as having had more than a single contact with CYPMHS. There is also a substantial lack of access to alternative treatment and support – such as counselling – for those sitting just below the CYPMHS threshold in terms of their mental health. Just 48% of teachers in England report that their schools offer on-site counselling.

Our research shows that ensuring universal access to counselling for young people in England could yield significant fiscal benefits in the form of increased tax revenues, reduced benefits spending and reduced pressure on government services including schools, the justice system and the NHS. Universal access to school and college-based counselling for young people in England would generate lifetime fiscal benefits to the government of £1.9 billion, against an annual cost of about £250 million.  In other words, the gains to the Exchequer are about eight times greater than the cost of ensuring universal access to counselling in schools and colleges. 

As far as economic growth-boosting measures go, investment in the mental health of our young people is far from a gamble. Get things right and the government can benefit significantly for many years to come. 

The Public First report can be found here.