abstract: 'Several indicators of population mental health in the UK have

  deteriorated since the financial crisis, during a period when a number

  of welfare reforms and austerity measures have been implemented. We do

  not know which groups have been most affected by these trends or the

  extent to which recent economic trends or recent policies have

  contributed to them.

  We use data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey to investigate trends

  in self reported mental health problems by socioeconomic group and

  employment status in England between 2004 and 2013. We then use panel

  regression models to investigate the association between local trends in

  mental health problems and local trends in unemployment and wages to

  investigate the extent to which these explain increases in mental health

  problems during this time.

  We found that the trend in the prevalence of people reporting mental

  health problems increased significantly more between 2009 and 2013

  compared to the previous trends. This increase was greatest amongst

  people with low levels of education and inequalities widened. The gap in

  prevalence between low and high educated groups widened by 1.29

  percentage points for women (95\% Cl: 0.50 to 2.08) and 136 percentage

  points for men (95\% Cl: 0.31 to 2.42) between 2009 and 2013. Trends in

  unemployment and wages only partly explained these recent increases in

  mental health problems. The trend in reported mental health problems

  across England broadly mirrored the pattern of increases in suicides and

  antidepressant prescribing.

  Welfare policies and austerity measures implemented since 2010 may have

  contributed to recent increases in mental health problems and widening

  inequalities. This has led to rising numbers of people with low levels

  of education out of work with mental health problems. These trends are

  likely to increase social exclusion as well as demand for and reliance

  on social welfare systems. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.'
affiliation: 'Barr, B (Corresponding Author), Univ Liverpool, Inst Psychol Hlth \&
  Soc, Dept Publ Hlth \& Policy, Whelan Bldg, Liverpool L69 3GB, Merseyside, England.

  Barr, Ben, Univ Liverpool, Inst Psychol Hlth \& Soc, Dept Publ Hlth \& Policy, Whelan
  Bldg, Liverpool L69 3GB, Merseyside, England.

  Kinderman, Peter, Univ Liverpool, Dept Psychol Sci, Liverpool L69 3GB, Merseyside,
  England.

  Whitehead, Margaret, Univ Liverpool, Dept Publ Hlth \& Policy, Liverpool L69 3GB,
  Merseyside, England.'
author: Barr, Ben and Kinderman, Peter and Whitehead, Margaret
author-email: b.barr@liverpool.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Barr
  given: Ben
- family: Kinderman
  given: Peter
- family: Whitehead
  given: Margaret
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.009
eissn: 1873-5347
files: []
issn: 0277-9536
journal: SOCIAL SCIENCE \& MEDICINE
keywords: 'Mental health; Employment; Unemployment; Health inequalities; Welfare

  reform; Recession; Austerity'
keywords-plus: CONDITIONALITY
language: English
month: DEC
number-of-cited-references: '39'
orcid-numbers: Barr, Ben R/0000-0002-4208-9475
pages: 324-331
papis_id: 55e937cb7073c185c16f0183e10abe19
ref: Barr2015trendsmental
researcherid-numbers: Barr, Ben R/W-9989-2018
times-cited: '118'
title: Trends in mental health inequalities in England during a period of recession,
  austerity and welfare reform 2004 to 2013
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000367637100039
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '35'
volume: '147'
web-of-science-categories: 'Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health; Social Sciences,

  Biomedical'
year: '2015'