In the past decade, rates of youth mental health, depression almost doubled, with nearly one out of every three teenagers in the U.S. reporting poor mental health. Suicide ranks as the second-leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds in the United States. These statistics paint a stark reality, with almost one-third of working parents feeling overwhelmed by their child’s mental health needs. Mental health has now become the top concern for parents, surpassing worries about substance use, teen pregnancy, and getting in trouble with the police.
If kids aren’t okay, neither are the working parents.
Like 43 million other workers in this country, I’m navigating the demands of a full-time career and parenthood, and it’s not easy. It’s no coincidence that in 2022, at a time when the youth mental health crisis was skyrocketing, women’s participation in the workforce was at 57 percent, its lowest since 1988. Research indicates that more mothers carry the mental load of parenting, which refers to the invisible work involved in keeping children functioning and a household running. It’s no wonder that more than one in five caregivers have voluntarily quit their jobs or plan to in order to better care for their children’s behavioral health needs. Parents are worried about their kids.
However, the challenge extends beyond individual households. Despite the growing need for support, there is an extreme shortage of providers, and out of more than 100,000 U.S. clinical psychologists, only 4,000 are child and adolescent clinicians. Some 70 percent of U.S. counties lack even a single pediatric psychiatrist. This shortage, coupled with barriers like long waitlists, out-of-pocket expenses, and social stigmas, leaves many parents feeling hopeless and unable to access the care their children need. The knock-on effect: many parents are left to figure it out on their own, some going without care and some turning to the ER. Emergency departments are inundated with visits related to youth mental health issues, doubling in the last decade, driving up healthcare costs. Concerningly, half of children in the U.S. who have a mental health disorder do not receive the treatment they need. The strain on families inevitably spills over into the workplace.
Youth mental health is tied to business health.
It’s not just the healthcare industry that’s feeling the effects of the ongoing youth mental health crisis. Studies show that over half of working parents miss work at least once a month and/or have their workdays interrupted due to their child’s mental health needs. This absenteeism and productivity loss due to caregiving commitments is costing businesses up to $44 billion each year. Over 70 percent of parents report that their child’s mental well-being has exacerbated their own work stresses. It’s unavoidable–the stress and pressure that families are under aren’t just leaking into the workplace, it’s crashing through the office doors.
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