Supporting Parents with Children's Mental Health
5 February 2025
It’s Children’s Mental Health Week, and the campaign encourages children and young people to express their emotions by educating them, schools and families. Children’s mental health is declining, and in the last three years, the chance of children having a mental health problem has increased by 50% (The Children's Society). During this blog, we’ll explore why young people’s mental health matters to employers due to its impact on working parents and carers, detailing how you can provide impactful support.
The Children’s Mental Health Week #KnowYourself #GrowYourself campaign educates young people, encouraging them to understand their different emotions, express themselves, and share their feelings.
What’s striking is that many parents also resonate with the Disney film Inside Out 2, which the campaign is using as a learning tool with support from Disney because they also go through those same emotions every day. More importantly, when parents are under pressure, their emotions can get the better of them, too. Giving them the tools they need to support themselves will empower them to be the people they need to be for their children.
Why Children's Mental Health Matters
Whether people have become more aware, understanding that something society would once have labelled as ‘bad behaviour’ is actually down to mental health or neurodiversity, or whether social and economic factors have created a decline in mental wellbeing - young people’s mental health is an issue in the UK.
Five children in a class of 30 are likely to have a mental health problem (The Children's Society). That’s not the only alarming statistic:
- 20.3% of eight to 16-year-olds had a probable mental disorder (NHS England, 2023).
- Young women aged 17 to 22 are most at risk of developing a mental health problem (The Children's Society).
- The NHS does not accept 34% of the mental health referrals they receive (The Children's Society).
With the problem growing, the pressure on the NHS increases, lengthening the time it takes for children and young people to receive the help they need.
How Parents Positively Affect Young People’s Mental Health
Science suggests that genetics play a role in children’s mental health, but social and environmental factors also contribute. Parents and carers can positively affect their children’s mental health in several ways:
- Speaking from experience: If a parent has experienced similar issues, they’ll be more aware of the signs and be able to have honest conversations.
- Modelling behaviour: The Children’s Mental Health Week campaign aims to help young people understand and speak about their emotions. Parents feel all the same emotions as their children, but in most cases, they can identify and voice them better. Talking about feelings - good and bad - is vital to normalising them.
- Education: Parents can educate themselves to better understand their child’s mental health issues, putting them in a position to provide them with the support they need and navigate the path to proper care.
Why Children's Mental Health is Important to Consider as an Employer
Parents can make a positive difference to their children’s mental health, but there’s a vital thing to remember: they’re human. Whether they have all the information they need or are just figuring things out, supporting a child with mental health issues is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining.
The situation is even more challenging for working parents trying to support their children while continuing to perform at work. Even the most resilient employees will struggle with this.
What Does This Mean for Employers?
46% of working parents are worried about their children’s mental health, and it’s costing UK employers £8bn annually. It negatively affects their performance, causes them to take time off, and sometimes, parents leave work entirely (Deloitte).
When the cost-of-living crisis began, employers began to understand the importance of supporting employee financial wellbeing. In our blog, ‘How to Improve Employee Financial Resilience’, we share the negative impact poor employee financial wellbeing has on a business - how financial anxiety costs employers. HR professionals understand why supporting employee financial wellbeing is a top priority. While it remains an issue today, the awareness of the impact of children’s mental health on working parents is pushing this new matter further up the list of priorities.
Support for Parents of Children with Mental Health Issues
Like financial wellbeing, mental wellbeing support in the workplace is a familiar concept. Much of the steps you’ve put in place to support employee mental health can also serve to support working parents of children with mental health issues. Here are ways to help the parents and carers in your business be as energised, positive, and empowered as they can be so they can be the best they can be.
Flexibility
Employees now have the right from day one to request flexible working. Employers must consider and assess all applications but there are circumstances when they can legally reject a request - with concrete evidence. Given the risk of increased absenteeism and employee turnover, it’s likely to be more beneficial than not to offer flexible working arrangements to parents of children with mental health issues.
Manager Training
In the case of children’s mental health, empathetic and well-trained managers are vital. You need your managers to provide the necessary support to help working parents remain in work - more importantly, to feel safe at work. If the office becomes a place of unease and conflict due to poor management, it could be the final straw, leading to increased absenteeism, burnout or resignation.
Culture of Wellbeing
Working parents may not be putting themselves first, but they need to. You can’t give your best to those who need you when your tank is empty. As well as offering wellbeing-boosting employee benefits, you must proactively ensure they’re prioritising their wellbeing. Encourage working parents to join mediation sessions or create a lunchtime walking group during the days they’re in the office to ensure they take these small moments for themselves.
Open Communication
Creating a culture of openness is essential because people find it difficult to talk about their mental wellbeing. Parents are very protective of their children, so sharing what’s happening with them will be just as, if not more difficult. Creating a space where parents can be honest about their children’s mental health is vital.
Establish Support Groups
When you consider that five children out of a class of 30 have some sort of mental health problem - which covers a broad range of issues - it’s likely that more than one person in your business is affected. Your HR, employee wellbeing team or Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) could help in creating a support group for the parents known to be dealing with their children’s mental health.
Awareness Initiatives
There are many awareness initiatives throughout the year - like Children’s Mental Health Week that you can participate in. Sharing information creates wider awareness and acceptance, helping to break the stigma around talking about mental health.
Fundraising Events
Show the working parents in your business that they have your full support by creating or participating in fundraising events to raise money for a charity that supports young people’s mental health issues. Such events will also boost employee wellbeing, giving them a sense of purpose and helping them see they’re making a difference at a time when they could be feeling quite helpless.
Provide Mental Health Support for Parents and Carers with Pluxee UK
The steps we’ve outlined above are mainly free to implement and will do much to support working parents with their children’s mental health. Some parents may need more, and if you haven’t yet embedded an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) into your employee benefits offering, this is something to consider - for all employees.
EAP can help working parents in many ways. For those negatively impacted or struggling mentally or emotionally because of their circumstances, they have access to BACP-accredited counsellors providing confidential support 24/7, 365 days a year. Even the parents in your business who find it difficult to express what's happening at home to you - their employer - can get the support they need, so ensure you promote the support available.
How Can Parents Use EAP to Support Children’s Mental Health
In addition to supporting parents with their wellbeing, EAP can provide them with the tools they need to get educated and be the superheroes their children already believe they are. When your employees pick up the phone and call our EAP service, they can speak with Information Specialists as well as counsellors. Some parents may not know where to turn or how to start the process of having their child assessed for autism or ADHD, for example. Our Information Specialists will be able to provide guidance.
Support is available on the go with our EAP app. A quick search using the ‘Explore’ feature brings up articles on supporting children with ADHD and anxiety, videos from experts on children’s mental health, and even tips on how to tackle behavioural issues.
#KnowYourself #GrowYourself
When employees are worried about their children, your business feels the impact financially, so every penny invested in supporting parents with young people’s mental health will yield a return, keep talented people in work and make life a little bit brighter for the whole family.
Let’s provide support for parents of children with mental health issues and make work a place to belong.
Sources: The Children's Society, Place2Be, Deloitte.
