Introducing a weekly payment between £10 and £100 to Universal Credit for households with one or more children present would cause a significant reduction in poor mental health, a new study from the SIPHER Consortium and Mental Health Foundation has found. A similar policy, known as “Child Payment,” is already in place in Scotland, at a rate of £26.70 per week.
Following the study’s results, the Mental Health Foundation is calling on the Chancellor to increase income support for parents in receipt of Universal Credit and legacy means-tested benefits (such as Employment Support Allowance) in the upcoming Budget. Such an increase could help prevent poor mental health among those on the lowest incomes, reduce the number of people out of work due to mental health problems, and free up thousands of spaces on mental health waiting lists.
Using a model developed by SIPHER, researchers found that additional payments to parents could deliver up to a 13% reduction of incidence of poor mental health for parents and other households caring for children that receive Universal Credit. The greater the payment, the bigger reduction in recipients experiencing poor mental health. The findings were as follows:
- A £25 weekly payment resulted in a 4% reduction.
- A £50 weekly payment resulted in a 6% reduction.
- A £100 weekly payment resulted in a 13% reduction.
Applied to the population of 2.85m adults living in households with at least one child in England and Wales who are in receipt of Universal Credit, a 13% reduction would represent 95,387 fewer people who might need mental healthcare.
A £25 or £50 weekly payment would mean 29,845 and 58,781 fewer people would be at risk of poor mental health, respectively.
SIPHER researchers based at the University of Leeds also highlighted the potential impact on the mental health of children and young people. Given the well-researched influence of parents' mental health on the mental health of their children, an initiative like this would be expected to also have significant benefits to the mental health of children, thereby reducing the pressures on schools and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).
Increasing means-tested benefits for parents would not just help those who receive the payment and their children. It would likely free up much-needed space on NHS waiting lists for mental health services, which have grown significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic, with 1.9 million people currently waiting for support.
In addition, the policy also has the potential to reduce the number of parents who are out of work due to a mental health problem, by increasing the likelihood that they will be better able to recover and subsequently return to work. For those already in work and who would be eligible to receive the payment, the policy has the potential to reduce the risk of them falling out of the workforce due to an ongoing mental health problem.
The full study can be found here: Modelling the Adult Mental Health Impacts of Child Payment Policy - SIPHER Consortium
Mark Rowland, Chief Executive at the Mental Health Foundation, said:
“This is exactly the sort of investment in people’s futures the new government should be implementing if they are serious about making the country healthier and more prosperous. Our report demonstrates the clear link between effective anti-poverty measures and improved mental health. Introducing better income support would reduce the risk of poor mental health of parents and other people caring for children, and deliver benefits across the whole of society. This should be a key part of the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
“The results of this study show this type of policy would deliver a genuinely impressive drop in the number of people struggling with poor mental health, with tens of thousands of people being lifted out of needing clinical support. This could free up resources to be better targeted in areas such as prevention, and reduce pressure on overcrowded NHS services.
“Only by investing today will the Chancellor be able to reduce unnecessary suffering for parents and children, as well as future costs of widespread poor mental health. These are the sorts of policies that Labour can’t afford not to implement.”
Report lead author, Nik Lomax, SIPHER Consortium and Professor of Population Geography at the University of Leeds, added:
“Our new research used a dynamic microsimulation model, to track how changes in household income influence factors like housing quality, nutrition, and social isolation, which in turn affect mental health outcomes, measured by the Short Form 12 Mental Component Score (SF-12 MCS).
“The results demonstrate that larger payments lead to substantial improvements in adult mental health, particularly for women and single-parent households. This research is part of SIPHER’s broader efforts to offer evidence-based insights for policy decisions."
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