Childhood mental ill health results in life-long impacts, research has argued, including costing employers £24bn a year and future employees as much as £1tn in lifetime lost earnings.

The stark warning has come from the Future Minds campaign, a collaboration between the Centre for Mental Health, Centre for Young Lives, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, and YoungMinds, with the support of the Prudence Trust.

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The cost of poor mental health is holding back the government’s growth plans through reduced tax receipts, it has warned, as well as increasing spending on benefits.

In all, the knock-on from childhood mental ill health costs employers £24bn a year in future lost productivity, and a staggering £1tr in individual lost earnings.

The cost of deteriorating mental health between a young people’s referral and them receiving support is now £295m a year, it added.

The ongoing lack of capacity in the system means too many young people reach crisis point, putting pressure on emergency, urgent and crisis services, straining bed capacity, and creating enormous waiting times.

The costs of persistent absence from school – which has mirrored the rise in mental ill health – were £1.17bn in the 2023/24 school year, the campaign added.

Future Minds is calling for increased investment in mental health support so that 70% of diagnosable need is met by mental health services by the end of this Parliament.

It has also urged greater investment in community services, such as mental health support teams and open-access hubs that intervene early and prevent mental health problems from worsening.

Andy Bell, chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, said: “Mental health difficulties in children and young people cast a long shadow that can last a lifetime without the right support.

“Yet children and young people’s services are underfunded, and levels of distress are rising markedly, leaving many thousands of children facing unacceptably long waiting times for support.

“The risks and gaps are biggest for the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups of young people.

“The government can and must act now to turn things around. By investing in children’s mental health services, the government can make sure that the mental health of another generation of young people is not left to chance,” Bell added.

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