Mental Health and Work: United Kingdom
Tackling mental ill-health of the working-age population is becoming a key issue for labour market and social policies in OECD countries. OECD governments increasingly recognise that policy has a major role to play in keeping people with mental ill-health in employment or bringing those outside of the labour market back to it, and in preventing mental illness. This report on the United Kingdom is the sixth in a series of reports looking at how the broader education, health, social and labour market policy challenges identified in Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health and Work (OECD, 2012) are being tackled in a number of OECD countries.
Mental health and work challenges in the United Kingdom
This chapter discusses the current labour market performance of people with a mental disorder in the United Kingdom in terms of their employment, unemployment and income situation. Building on the findings in the OECD report Sick on the Job?, it highlights the key challenges ahead, such as the high share of people on different social benefits who suffer from a mental health condition. The chapter also provides a short description and assessment of the two main systems catering for people with mental illness: social security and health care.