While three quarters of young people can point to a period in which work had adversely affected their mental health, most are ill-equipped to spot the warning signs.
This is according to findings published as part of Starting Out, Staying In: Building the confidence and conditions for young people to develop healthy, sustainable careers, a new report from Axa Health examining young people’s experiences during the formative years of working life and what can help them build healthy, sustainable careers.
The report’s survey of 2,000 UK adults in work during the summer found 75% have experienced at least one period when work had a significant negative impact on their mental health or wellbeing.
However, when work was affecting their mental wellbeing, many did not recognise it early.
Just 19% recognised the problem at the first signs, while 23% did so only when they felt close to burnout. In more than one in 10 cases (12%) it took someone else to notice what they couldn’t see themselves.
Most young workers were found to not describe themselves as being in serious difficulty – 9% said they were thriving, 33% generally happy and 26% mostly coping. However, 20% often felt overwhelmed and 12% felt close to burnout.
The report’s authors note that this trend suggests that a sizable group is managing the demands of work without necessarily feeling settled or positive about them. And while that position may be sustainable for some, for others, it may leave little room to absorb additional pressure.
But the report also found 75% have experienced at least one period when work had a significant negative impact on their mental health or wellbeing. For 44%, this has happened more than once. Young women were more likely to describe themselves as overwhelmed or close to burnout at 36% compared with 28% of men, and young women are also more likely to report repeated periods of negative impact, at 48% compared with 40%.