By Thushya Mani on November, 11 2019
There is a disproportionate impact on young people through the links between unemployment and poor mental and physical health.
Graduates and young people are finding it hard to get jobs with their degrees and qualifications, receiving fewer job applications per year.
As a result there is an increase in mental health issues which are twice as likely to appear, a University College London study has shown.
Taking into account the background factors such as gender, social class, ethnicity and prior mental health—in the survey of the economic activity and health of 25 year-olds, 2.36 unemployed responded with having poor mental health alongside every person at a stable work also had mental health issues.
With youth unemployment being higher than the UK average, the number of young people in employment decreased by 124,000 over the past year.
Dr Lily Canter FHEA, a senior lecturer a Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Having a degree itself will not get you a job. It was exactly the same 20 years ago when I graduated and got my first job in journalism. Getting a job is about demonstrating that you can work as a competent journalist.
“I think there is an expectation amongst students that having a degree is enough and that will open up job opportunities but for a career like journalism it is about far more than the skills and knowledge you acquire on a degree.”
Millennials are at the height of the most recent financial crisis as they joined the labour market, with university fees and loan debts at its highest.
Pramika Kirupa, 22, BA English Literature graduate at the University of Sheffield, struggled to find a career with her degree for few months, she said: “It’s not easy, I struggled to find a career for a couple of months. It stressed me out. I was pretty much anxious to even search for a job and get a positive result. Couldn’t express the amount of migraines and muscle tension I had.
“I was also put onto a zero hour contract at the first job in teaching at a school. For what it was worth, I only got payed for how many hours I worked which weren’t a lot. My stress contributed to that also.”
The Office for National Statistics has data which suggests the link between zero hour work contracts contributes to the result of poorer mental health within younger workers.
Pamela Whiteside, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam, whose background expertise is also on Public Health, said: “People who are unemployed tend to consult with their GPs more often with depression and anxiety when being unemployed for more than 12 weeks.”
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