A report tracking almost eight decades of data has shed new light on the enduring impacts of adolescent disadvantage deep into adulthood.
Dr Sara Evans-Lacko, Associate Professorial Research Fellow at the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC) at LSE and lead author of the paper, outlines the key findings: “According to our research, at the age of 55, men who as teenagers lived through the combined, and often interlinked, challenges of poverty and mental health issues will earn almost 20 per cent less than those who did not experience the same difficulties.
“For women, the difference is even more pronounced – their earnings are likely to be almost a quarter less than their counterparts.”
The findings highlight the far-reaching effects of the double disadvantage of poverty and mental health challenges in childhood. “The interactions between mental health problems and low socioeconomic status have a significant cumulative impact through a person’s life,” sets out Dr Evans-Lacko.
“Our research shows that this double disadvantage can shape economic trajectories and knock-on effects well into mid-life.”
Those adults from poorer backgrounds who presented conduct issues in their adolescence … have experienced the severest shortfall in earnings as adults.
Tracking participant trajectories
The research project draws on data from the ongoing 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), which follows the lives of 17,415 people born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week of 1958.
“The NCDS is a rich data source of detailed information on a large group of people from different backgrounds. With this dataset we have been able to pull out their earnings over all these years up to adulthood, and cross-reference this with the socioeconomic status of their families and their mental health records as young people,” explains Dr Evans-Lacko.
“We found that those adults from poorer backgrounds who presented conduct issues in their adolescence, which includes behaviours including acting aggressively, frequent rule breaking or showing a lack of concern for others, have experienced the severest shortfall in earnings as adults.”
The findings suggest a need for greater investment in adolescent mental health care, particularly for those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, in order to prevent the widening of inequalities in adulthood.
“Youth mental health is receiving a lot of attention right now,” notes Dr Evans-Lacko. “Mental health support for young people is important for their lives in the here and now, but for those who face socioeconomic disadvantage in particular, our research shows that if we don’t think about how we can do more to prevent and mitigate problems early on, issues will persist over their lifespan.”
If we don’t think about how we can do more to prevent and mitigate problems early on, issues will persist over their lifespan.
Tackling the mental health crisis and systemic disadvantage
For Dr Evans-Lacko, the research supports the need for targeted policies and improved collaboration across public services.
“The findings demonstrate that issues of inequality are truly intersectional – here in particular we see that social and economic disadvantages are closely linked to mental health issues. One of my goals is to reach policymakers beyond the mental health sector, in areas such as social care and education, to help create services which take this intersectionality into account.
“To provide real support in populations where we stand to make the most difference, we need comprehensive approaches that span mental health, education and employment. Interventions could have far-reaching economic and societal benefits, helping to break cycles of poverty and poor mental health outcomes.”
The global problem of low socioeconomic status and mental health challenges
While this study uses UK data, Dr Evans-Lacko points out that this is not the limit of her findings.
“In the UK, we have seen the same patterns play out in further datasets. We also see the same patterns replicated in many other countries, both more and less economically developed.”
Dr Evans-Lacko’s work on this phenomenon has taken her across the world, including to Brazil, Colombia and South Africa on a recent project to look at the mental health impacts of government initiatives which distributed cash transfers to low-income families.
“We highlighted stories and impacts in a documentary from the project focused on the young people who were cash transfer beneficiaries of the Brazilian government’s Bolsa Família project. The film talks from their perspective about how poverty relates to mental health.
Can better mental health help young people climb out of poverty?
“For these young people, poverty was seen as deeply intertwined with mental health, creating a cycle of stress, anxiety and limited life chances. They emphasised the importance of additional interventions to support mental health to create meaningful and sustainable improvements.
“This project came after another study in Brazil, which highlights how socioeconomic disadvantage impacts on educational attainment.”
Building on her work so far, the next step for Dr Evans-Lacko is to create spaces for dialogue around the integration of mental health support into existing programmes for vulnerable populations. She also plans to work on developing new initiatives that combine mental health support with broader social interventions.
“My research underscores the need for policies that not only support mental health, but crucially address the underlying socioeconomic structures that perpetuate disadvantage. Simply improving access to mental health care is not enough. Without confronting the systemic inequalities that limit access to care and resources, these patterns of long-term societal disadvantage will continue."
Dr Sara Evans-Lacko was speaking to Molly Rhead, Media Relations Officer at LSE.
“The double disadvantage faced by adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds with mental health problems affects earnings up to mid-life” is by Sara Evans-Lacko, Paulino Font Gilabert and Martin Knapp.
