Clicking online... but clocking off at work

A key report says economic inactivity in 16-34-year-olds has links to online-generated mental health problems

- Rachel Sylvester Political Editor

Social media is driving a rise in the number of young people who are off work because of poor mental health, according to former John Lewis boss Charlie Mayfield, who last week published a landmark report on economic inactivity.

The Keep Britain Working review identified a "particularly concerning" growth in 16to 34-year-olds with a

mental health condition and who are economically inactive as a result of long-term sickness.

The number increased by 190,000 between 2019 and 2024, a 76% rise.

Only 59% are off work because of a mental health condition as the primary reason. "I don't think it's an accident that this roughly coincides with when social media started to become a bigger and more prevalent feature," said Mayfield to The Observer. "When you see a sustained increase like that over a long period, there has to be something behind it which is pretty broad, and that would be one of the things." He said mental health problems among the young had been rising since before the pandemic and it would be a mistake to attribute the rise in economic inactivity solely to the Covid crisis.