In her letter published by The Financial Times, Elizabeth Hampson, Partner, Deloitte, explained that the recently updated report which she authored – “Mental health and employers: The case for employers to invest in supporting working parents and a mentally health workplace” – shows clearly the effect of children’s poor mental health on working parents.
The report, which was compiled in collaboration with mental health charities Place2Be and Mind, estimates that working parents’ concern about their children’s mental health costs UK employers £8bn a year. This reflects the cost to employers of parents and carers taking time off work to care for their children, the impact on their performance, or leaving their roles.
This new insight is useful for those struggling to make the case for sustained support of employee health and wellbeing. Particularly given NHS England’s indication that 1 in 5 children and young people now have a probable mental health condition*.
The impact of children and young people’s mental health
According to the survey, 46% of working parents are concerned about their children’s mental health. Half of those who are concerned about their children’s mental health say it impacts their performance at work.
A majority of working parents (63%) who were concerned about their children’s mental health, say they turn to external sources of support to manage their children’s mental health challenges, rather than approaching their employer for additional support.
Of those who are concerned about their children’s mental health, a third (32%) have looked to reduce their working hours and 19% have turned to their employer for additional support, such as an employee support line, childcare, or flexible working arrangements.
Juggling demands of work alongside caring for a child with mental health difficulties led to 10% of parents taking up to five days off per year to support their children. One in a hundred working parents have left their jobs because of the poor mental health of their children.
How employers can help
Hampson said: “Alongside wider societal support, our research shows that specific support, including for working parents, can help reduce time out of the office and presenteeism.”
Catherine Roche, CEO, Place2Be, children’s mental health charity, said: “Children don’t come with a manual: in today’s fast-moving landscape we need to support parents and carers to build their confidence and understanding of emotions and behaviours, so they can foster resilience, healthy coping mechanisms, good mental health and wellbeing. Place2Be is delighted to work in partnership with Deloitte, whom we applaud for investing time and research into these complex issues. Creating mentally healthy workplaces has long-reaching benefits for employers, employees and society as a whole.”
Mind has a range of information and resources for young people, as well as parents and carers of young people aged 11-18. You can access this here.
Deloitte case study
To ease the challenges facing working parents, Deloitte offers their employees hybrid working, parental leave, time off for dependants’ leave and a career break policy.
They also have a ways-of-working framework designed to help all colleagues share with their leaders and teams information that they want them to know about their background, how they like to work and where they might need support.
Deloitte’s 1,500 member strong Working Families employee network provides parents with peer support. Additionally, this autumn, Deloitte is trialling a six-week parenting programme with facilitation from Place2Be.
*https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/11/one-in-five-children-and-young-people-had-a-probable-mental-disorder-in-2023/
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