Fixing The Teen Mental Health Crisis Could Make America $52 Billion Dollars Through Increased Participation In The Workforce
The teenage years are often when mental health struggles start to occur, and this can lead to financial consequences in adulthood.
Apparently, teens experiencing psychological distress earn about $5,700 less per year in their late twenties. They also accumulate about $10,800 less in savings by the age of 30 compared to their peers.
In a new study, a group of 3,300 American teenagers were tracked from their high school years into early adulthood.
Their level of psychological distress was measured using a standardized questionnaire called the Mental Health Inventory-5. It asks people about their anxiety levels, their recent mood, and their emotional well-being.
Teens who experienced significant distress—feelings of nervousness, hopelessness, or depression—followed noticeably different life paths when tracked a decade later.
The numbers showed that young adults who often felt intense distress as teens worked roughly 201 fewer hours per year, which equates to approximately five weeks of full-time work. In addition, they were six percent less likely to hold a job at all.
Furthermore, they were nine percent less likely to pursue any college education and three percent less likely to complete a college degree.
The gap in education helps explain the persistence in earnings difference over time. Less education results in fewer job opportunities and lower earnings.
The study also details potential solutions to this mental health crisis. The researchers of the study modeled what would happen if the government provided access to preventive mental health care to just 10 percent of teens who experience psychological distress.
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Their analysis suggested that a program of this kind could produce $52 billion over 10 years through increased participation in the workforce. These findings highlight the urgent need to do something about the youth mental health crisis.
Previous research has indicated that investing in mental health early on could save money in the long term. This study demonstrates that improvements in adolescent mental health can bring billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and have the potential to offset the costs of critical health services for young people, paying for itself over time.
In recent years, teen mental health has declined a great deal, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, social media, changes in technology, and an unstable economy add to the pressures. If something isn’t done, these challenges could really impact the economy.
Like any research, this study contains some limitations. For one, there were participants who did not complete all parts of the survey.
It also tracked outcomes from 2000 to 2010, so the results of the study may not accurately reflect today’s economic environment.
Many participants entered the workforce during the Great Recession, which may have made their struggles more severe.
Overall, mental health interventions can generate considerable economic returns—all the more reason that investments in adolescent mental health services should be increased.
The study was published in PLOS Medicine.
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