Many young Australians are struggling to enter or stay in the workforce, as a mental health crisis deepens for those under 25. or signup to continue reading According to Headspace's recent National Youth Mental Health Survey, only one in two 12 to 25-year-olds feels confident about achieving their current or future career goals. Just over half (54 per cent) feel confident about applying for a job and 52 per cent believe they have the necessary skills to succeed.
Thursday marks World Mental Health Day and new research from Headspace shows one in four young Australians are at risk of serious mental illness. Another Headspace survey found eight in 10 family members held concerns about their young person's mental health. The most concerned family members were those caring for an LGBTQI young person (90 per cent) and those who belonged to multicultural communities (85 per cent), the inaugural headspace National Family Mental Health Survey found.
The survey quizzed 2059 family members, including parents, carers, siblings, elders, close friends and step family, who cared for young people aged 12 to 25. Cost-of-living pressures are also preventing many Australians from seeking mental health support, with one in three sufferers not pursuing treatment. The data from a WayAhead survey of 1000 people who had experience with a mental health challenge and 1000 who had none, found almost half identified the cost-of-living crisis as the biggest barrier to accessing professional mental health.
