Frederico Cardoso

Senior Economist

Dear friend,

Today we published new economic analysis which finds that the costs of mental ill health have reached £300 billion a year. This figure is double the NHS’s entire budget in England in 2022. And it's similar to the estimated impact of Covid-19 on the UK economy in 2020. In a sense, the economic impact of mental ill health is like having a pandemic every year.

We know that a £ sign can never fully reflect the devastating impact of mental health problems on people’s lives. But this astounding figure makes a clear case that tackling mental ill health is everyone’s business, and it must spur urgent government action.

This month we also published new research into mental health in later life, which finds that older people’s mental health is being widely overlooked. And we’ve shared a great selection of informative and moving blogs – be sure to check those out.

We still have a long way to go to make equality in mental health a reality. Thank you for continuing to support us on that journey.

The economic and social costs of mental ill health

Our analysis finds that the total cost of mental ill health in England in 2022 was £300 billion. This figure is made up of costs to the economy, the health and care sector, and to people with mental health difficulties and their families.

The Government cannot afford to ignore the devastating impact of mental ill health.

It's clearer than ever that we need a comprehensive, cross-government mental health strategy.

Mental health in later life

Older people’s mental health has long been overlooked. With Age UK, we explored how ageist attitudes are preventing older people from getting the mental health support they need.

This briefing opens up a conversation that has been left on the margins of policy and practice for too long, and sets out how we can create better mental health for older people.

Have we ‘gone too far’ on mental health? No. We’re not even close.

by Andy Bell

We will all go through grief at some point – so why are we so bad at talking about it?

by Nick Treloar

Managing my mental health during Ramadan

by Zainab Shafan-Azhar

We need to do more to protect councillors’ mental health

by Councillor Jo Harding

The home front: connecting housing and mental health

by Andy Bell