Mental ill-health a barrier to work, new report finds

The decline in people’s mental health is having a growing impact on the UK’s workforce

A new report, Working Well: Improving mental health in the workplace by Imperial’s Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) and Mental Health Innovations (MHI), reveals that an increasing number of people are unable to enter, remain in, or return to employment due to mental ill-health. The report explores the wide range of factors related to mental ill-health preventing people from undertaking work and offers practical recommendations for employers, researchers, and innovators on how to address this urgent issue.

The rise in mental ill-health across the UK is increasingly evident. In the mid-2010s, approximately 8–10% of working-age individuals reported having a long-term mental health condition. Today, that figure has risen to 13–15%. The new IGHI report presents data that further highlights the issue: according to Office for National Statistics data, in 2023, 53% of those economically inactive due to long-term sickness cited “depression, bad nerves or anxiety” as the main cause. These statistics reveal a complex relationship between mental health and employment, exposing the scale and the urgency of the issue. 

We hope the recommendations in this report will help employers and employees move towards a shared vision of ‘working well’. Professor Lord Ara Darzi

Professor Lord Ara Darzi, Director of IGHI, said: “We hope the recommendations in this report will help employers and employees move towards a shared vision of ‘working well’ – a future where mental health is understood, supported and valued as integral to individual and organisational success. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners across government, industry and academia to make that vision a reality.”

Victoria Hornby OBE, Chief Executive of Mental Health Innovations, said: “There is a clear opportunity for government, employers and charities to work together to identify and scale the most effective ways of improving the mental health of those in and out of work. Our novel guide for employers, co-developed with people with lived experience of these issues, provides practical suggestions to make the process from job application to day-to-day work more supportive of mental health.”

Key Findings and Recommendations

The report was developed in collaboration with a Mental Health Voice Group (MHVG), whose members have lived experience of how mental health can impact work and be impacted by work. The findings were informed by a wide range of sources, including publicly available data and surveys of users of MHI’s Shout text messaging service and the MEL Research pro-bono omnibus. Additional insights were gathered through MHVG meetings and interviews with key stakeholders from the government, NHS, industry, and charity sector.

Barriers to work

• Mental illness was the most frequently cited reason (40%) why the Shout survey respondents were not in employment, followed by disability (28%).
• When asked about barriers to finding employment, 70% of respondents identified mental health as the main obstacle, followed by lack of confidence (39%), disability (31%), and physical illness (26%).

Mental health in the workplace

• 78% of respondents in the MEL Research pro-bono omnibus survey stated their workplace provides some form of mental health and wellbeing support.
• However, 33% of respondents stated they never use workplace mental health and wellbeing services, with 22% indicating that such support is not available to them. Only 8% of respondents reported using mental health support often.

The report findings highlight the need for continued work in this area, alongside the implementation of practical measures to support people returning to employment after a period of mental ill-health. To support this, the report includes a practical guide for employers, co-produced with the MHVG. It offers actionable advice on supporting people returning to work after a period of mental ill-health, including guidance on inclusive recruitment practices and improving employees’ onboarding experience.

Next Steps

To improve people’s confidence and reduce the barriers to employment, the report outlines key recommendations: 

• Employers should create a more inclusive and supportive recruitment and working environment, following practices such as those listed in the report’s guide for employers.
• Industries should use educational and training programmes to better prepare employees entering and working in high-stress environments.
• Innovators should develop technology-based health and work support tools to complement other support services, helping individuals return to or stay in employment.
• Researchers should build scientific evidence on the effectiveness of mental health and wellbeing support in collaboration with employers and industries.

This report builds on the long-standing partnership between Mental Health Innovations and the Institute of Global Health Innovation. MHI is a leading charity that delivers innovative digital services to improve the mental health of people in the UK. This report is the second in a series of four joint reports that examine different aspects of mental health in the UK. The first report, Help is just a text away, explored access to MHI’s Shout text message support service.