The mental health employment gap across the UK
One of the key drivers of inequalities for people with mental health problems is a lack of suitable employment opportunities. This issue is more acute in some places than others.
For example, in Northern Ireland and Wales, the employment rate of people with mental health problems is over 40 percentage points lower than that of people without such conditions.
In the East and South East of England, that difference is still substantial, but amounts to less than 25 percentage points.
Our research also shows that having a mental health problem is a key factor contributing to high levels of economic inactivity in many parts of the UK.
The share of people who are inactive (i.e. not actively seeking work but not retired) and who say a mental health problem is their main health condition is substantial everywhere.
But there is still wide variation in different parts of the UK. This ranges from 12% of economically inactive people in London who say a mental health problem is their main health condition, to 28% in Wales.