Wales rates worsening for poor mental health as financial insecurity continues to hit hard

Nation.Cymru staff

A new report by the Mental Health Foundation finds Wales continues to experience the highest levels of poor mental health across the UK.

The Foundation Reports, which spans fifteen years of 40,000 people’s data across the UK, shows that at 27.3%, Wales has a rate of poor mental health 2.7% higher than the UK average of 24.6%.

The pattern is one of consistent deterioration, with 13 out of the last 15 years Wales reporting higher levels of poor mental health than the UK average.

In addition, there has been a steep incline in the post-pandemic years and whilst UK averages fell back to pre-pandemic levels, Wales rates have continued to climb since 2018, reaching a peak of 28% in 2022/23 – a staggering 5.2 percentage points higher than the UK average.

Figures have dropped slightly since, but Wales remains 2.7% higher than the UK average.

Over the last 20 years, a fifth (21%) of the population in Wales have lived in poverty. In recent years, the backdrop of austerity, Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living-crisis has compounded these inequalities.

Now, over half of those are living in ‘very-deep poverty’ and experiencing chronic stress, material hardship and higher levels of distress and mental health difficulties.

Catherine Razzell, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “The findings of The Foundation Reports show a worrying and consistent pattern emerging in Wales. Whilst figures show the levels of poor mental health in other UK nations have tracked together, Wales has diverged from the rest of the UK – this is deeply concerning.

“Things need to change in order to protect the people of Wales from poor mental health and for the next generation. This is not just on an individual basis, but at a systemic level – the band that constitutes those who are deemed ‘vulnerable’ from developing poor mental health has widened in Wales. There are barriers in place that are keeping Wales in chronic poor mental health.

“The new Welsh Government have a challenge on their hands to claw back from these depths and also the opportunity to make real and lasting change for this generation and the next. We are very encouraged to hear the announcement that a Welsh Child Payment, Cynnal, will be piloted after their initial 100 days.

“It’s also refreshing to hear that prevention continues to be on the agenda with a dedicated ministerial role for public and preventative health and also for social care, mental health and women’s health.

“We are keen to see the full implementation of the cross-government Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Wales (2025-2035) and the commitment to prevention continue as a priority, underpinned by adequate funding and insight from robust data, which has been seriously lacking to date.

“This cannot be done in isolation given the areas of policy impacting the people of Wales that are reserved to Westminster; UK governments working in collaboration and learning from one another is needed to ensure delivery and investment meets the people and communities that need it most.”

Read The Foundations Report: The state of mental health (Wales report) here.