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How businesses can help
There is no doubt about the extent of poor mental health among children and young people, nor the business benefits of providing effective support for working parents and caregivers.
Almost two in five (39%) of parents – equivalent to 7.6 million people – worry about their child’s mental health at least once a week.1
But what does that look like?
Amy Egginton, Head of New Propositions, Bupa UK Insurance says,
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but the first step should always be to signal that support is available, and that line managers and senior teams are there to help. But don’t assume that every parent is struggling.”
“The key is to support positive conversations to encourage working parents to share their concerns before their children are in crisis — and to make sure that line managers have the training and resources they need to be able to provide effective support and advice when it’s needed.”
Actions for change
In its report Mental health and employers, Deloitte highlights three actions for any organisation which is serious about supporting employee mental health.2
Leadership
Senior teams set the tone and lead by example. Make it clear your organisation is aware of the pressures many working parents face and that promoting good mental health is a business priority.
Monitoring and raising awareness
Creating a positive and well-designed work environment will help protect the mental health and wellbeing of teams. Be alert to stressors and business practices which could undermine wellbeing, particularly for those people who might be in a higher-risk group such as working parents and caregivers.
Changing culture and increasing support
Provide a diverse portfolio of support measures, including some which are tailored to address the specific needs of working parents.
The MindForward Alliance report, Impact of Children’s Mental Health Crisis on Working Parents provides a number of practical steps towards achieving this crucial change in culture and embedding support.3
Flexibility
Top of parents wish-lists were flexibility, openness, mental health literacy training and resources.3
The report also flags the importance of looking at the bigger picture and acknowledging that parents may also need support to manage the challenges to their own mental health as a result of their child’s distress.
The MindForward Alliance research also found that many parents feel uncomfortable talking to their children about mental health and feel ill-equipped for these conversations.
Amy says,
“By supporting parents and caregivers to improve their own mental health literacy and resilience, we can help them to better understand and support their children when they are struggling and need extra support.”
Bringing together parents and caregivers who are going through similar challenges can be very helpful — yet only one in 50 of the parents surveyed for the report said they could access this kind of peer-support.3
Amy says,
“Flexibility and work adjustments can be a lifeline if a colleague has a child in crisis or needs to accompany them to appointments or mental health assessments.”
“This may cause some disruption to teams in the short-term, but it could prevent a valued team member from taking extended leave or even resigning — and the loss of wealth of experience and knowledge of your business.”
Three steps to success
The MindForward Alliance advises three areas of focus for organisations that are serious about providing effective support:3
1. Create a culture that supports mental wellbeing.
Send a clear signal that your business prioritises the wellbeing of employers and their families.
Seek to de-stigmatise mental health challenges and ensure parents feel comfortable to share concerns with their line manager.
2. Develop a mentally healthy working environment.
Juggling family and work commitments can be stressful, so design jobs and work practices which enable employees to balance their priorities, particularly in times of urgency.
Central to this are training and resources to increase the mental health literacy of line managers, and embedding flexibility, autonomy and compassion.
3. Provide and signpost support and resources.
Ensuring that working parents and caregivers, and, ideally, their children, can access the support will go a long way to reducing the personal and business impacts of poor mental health in children and young people.
The Bupa Family Mental HealthLine provides access to a team of trained advisers and mental health nurses and there is also a suite of evidence-based online resources which parents and children can access at any time, on any day, so support is there when it is needed.
This includes a range of online mental wellbeing programs from SilverCloud and, if necessary, children may be referred to their structured cognitive behaviour therapy. Plus, there is advice from leading doctors and wellness experts via JAAQ at Work, an employee engagement platform which hosts thousands of videos conversations to build and support good mental health.
Explore our guides and resources
Manager’s Guide:
Supporting employees with their children’s mental health
The stress and worry we feel when a loved one is suffering can spill into our lives and make the pressures of work difficult. Learn more in our manager’s guide.
Caregivers toolkit:
Looking after a young person’s mental health
If you’re looking to better support your child’s wellbeing, we offer guidance and support for your loved one, and yourself in our helpful guide.
Supporting young people’s mental health
When it comes to mental health, it takes all of us to make a difference. Parents, young people, managers, businesses and healthcare providers.
1 Bupa research conducted by Censuswide 2024
2 Deloitte, The case for employers to invest in supporting working parents and a mentally health workplace, May 2024.
3 Mind Forward Alliance, Impact of children's mental health on working parent
