As youth unemployment has increased, increasing mental issues are surfacing that sees many having panic attacks, turning to self-harm and describing a self-loathing.
Back in 2010, two years after the economic crash, academics from Roehampton University and the children’s charity Elizabeth Finn Care published a report demonstrating the crippling effects of the recession in terms of mental wellbeing. It stated that incidents of depression had risen by between four- and fivefold and that those aged 18-30 were more likely to suffer than any other age group. Recent reports show that things have deteriorated.
A Youth Index study published last month by The Prince’s Trust found that one in ten young people feel they cannot cope with day-to-day life. Nearly half of unemployed respondents said that their lack of a job had led to panic attacks, self-harm and self-loathing. This is compared to 27 per cent of young people in work. The Prince’s Trust chief executive, Martina Milburn, said, “A frightening number of unemployed young people feel unable to cope—and it is particularly tough for those who don’t have a support network in place.
“We know at The Prince’s Trust that it is often those from the most vulnerable backgrounds who end up furthest from the job market. Life can become a demoralising downward spiral—from a challenging childhood into life as a jobless adult,” Milburn added.
Richard Parish, chief executive of the Royal Society of Public Health, said, “The Youth Index clearly shows a worrying discrepancy between young people who are in work and those who are not. These unemployed young people need support to re-gain their self-worth and, ultimately, get them back in the workplace.”
Another survey this month of teachers carried out by YouGov showed that young children cannot help but be affected by increased stress at home. Some 78 per cent of teachers believed that government cuts have had a negative effect on the mental health of their pupils or their families.
Numerous studies have shown that the longer young people remain without a job, the more damaging is the impact on their mental health. With the number of NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) now hovering around the 1 million mark, these figures become especially damning. Added to this, youth unemployment lasting longer than a year rocketed up by 250 per cent between 2011 and 2012. In some areas, such as the north east, youth unemployment has seen a 400 per cent increase since the beginning of the recession.
In a Guardian article, the principal of Queen Mary’s sixth form college in Basingstoke said, “Young people are increasingly worried about whether or not they will be able to afford higher education; whether or not they will be able to find a job on leaving school or university; and whether or not they will be able to afford their own place to live”
He added, “In 30-odd years of teaching, I have never seen 16-18 year olds so politicised.”
Young people are indeed becoming aware that their problems have far wider roots than their own immediate circumstances, and this is opening them to a critique of capitalist society.
Source; WSWS
