(Source: https://hrnews.co.uk/)
Posted on May 23, 2024
By Gosia Bowling, National Lead for Mental Health at Nuffield Health
Parents are becoming more anxious about their children’s mental health than ever before.
This is completely understandable when the number of children being referred to emergency mental health care in the UK has reportedly sky-rocketed, increasing by 53 percent in the last year alone.
Findings from Nuffield Health’s Healthier Nation Index – a survey of 8,000 UK adults – also identified that people with children cited mental health as one of the most present health challenges amongst their friends and family. This was particularly true for parents with children under 18 living at home.
Caregivers concern over children’s mental health can lead to anxiety, lack of sleep, reduced focus, stress, and low mood. All of these can affect wellbeing and productivity, both in workers personal and professional lives. We also know that parents in the workplace dealing with children’s mental health issues are more likely to take absence days from work at short notice to support their family.
Given that poor mental health is a major contributor to decreased productivity at work, costing the global economy $1 trillion each year, businesses should create ‘parental pillars’ so that parents going through difficulties in their personal lives feel supported at work.
Informing parents and caregivers about relevant employee support should be a business priority, a sentiment reflected in Nuffield Health’s recent findings. 69 percent of working parents agree that it is in an employer’s interests to support employees to stay well, while 67 percent think their employer bears some responsibility for their health and wellbeing.
So, what ‘parental pillars’ can businesses put in place?
Read the full article on https://hrnews.co.uk/the-uk-is-facing-a-child-mental-health-crisis-heres-why-its-important-to-provide-parental-pillars-for-employees-with-kids/
