Mental health: the new frontier for labour economics

"This lecture argues that mental health is a major factor of production. It is the biggest single influence on life satisfaction, with mental health eight years earlier a more powerful explanatory factor than current income. Mental health also affects earnings and educational success. But, most...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Layard, Richard
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: London 2013
LSE
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19127257124919454399-Mental-health-the-new-frontier.htm
_version_ 1771659902022844416
author Layard, Richard
author_facet Layard, Richard
collection Library items
description "This lecture argues that mental health is a major factor of production. It is the biggest single influence on life satisfaction, with mental health eight years earlier a more powerful explanatory factor than current income. Mental health also affects earnings and educational success. But, most strikingly, it affects employment and physical health. In advanced countries mental health problems are the main illness of working age – amounting to 40% of all illness under 65. They account for over one third of disability and absenteeism in advanced countries. They can also cause or exacerbate physical illness. It is estimated that in the absence of mental illness, the costs of physical healthcare for chronic diseases would be one third lower. The good news is that cost-effective treatments for the most common mental illnesses now exist (both drugs and psychological therapy). But only a quarter of those who suffer are in treatment. Yet psychological therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, if more widely available would pay for itself in savings on benefits and lost taxes. The lecture ends by illustrating how rational policy can be made using life-course models of wellbeing. Such policies should include a much greater role for the treatment and prevention of mental illness."
format TEXT
geographic developed countries
United Kingdom
id 19127257124919454399_0a038a40423644029109e9128b5c6aea
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19127257124919454399_0a038a40423644029109e9128b5c6aea
is_hierarchy_title Mental health: the new frontier for labour economics
language English
physical 16 p.
Digital
publishDate 2013
publisher London
LSE
spellingShingle Layard, Richard
absenteeism
disability
employment
mental health
quality of life
well being
Mental health: the new frontier for labour economics
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=100788092896
title Mental health: the new frontier for labour economics
topic absenteeism
disability
employment
mental health
quality of life
well being
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19127257124919454399-Mental-health-the-new-frontier.htm