Mental health and wellbeing
Where parents get help for their own mental health
Where , if anywhere , have you sought help regarding your mental health ?
45 %
GP or other health practitioner
|
30 %
Friend / family member
|
25 %
Counsellor / psychotherapist
|
23 %
Information on the internet via a search engine ( e . g . Google , NHS Direct )
|
12 %
Self-help books
|
8 %
Social media
|
7 %
Telephone helpline
( NHS Direct , Samaritans etc .)
|
7 %
Somewhere else
|
Sample : 5,490 parents in England ( 3,012 ), Scotland ( 1,313 ), Wales ( 862 ) and Northern Ireland ( 303 ) who have at least one child aged 4-18 in school Base : All with poor mental health ( 1,203 )
Parents ’ happiness
Overall , how happy are you most of the time ?
13 %
Very happy
|
+ |
61 % Fairly happy |
= |
74 % |
Happy |
17 % Not very happy
+
|
4 % Not at all happy |
= |
22 % |
Not happy |
Sample : 5,490 parents in England ( 3,012 ), Scotland ( 1,313 ), Wales ( 862 ) and Northern Ireland ( 303 ) who have at least one child aged 4-18 in school Base : All UK respondents , weighted
More than one in five parents have poor or very poor mental health . The fact that almost a quarter of parents say they aren ’ t happy most of the time signifies a desperate need for intervention to improve the quality of life for a large number of families across the UK .
Poor mental health significantly impacts many aspects of parenting discussed in this report . For example , one in four parents with poor mental health have missed work in the last year due to their struggles . These parents are also more likely to be worried about affording rent / mortgage payments and struggle with school costs . They are also more likely to say they don ’ t spend as much time doing family activities as they would like to compared with parents with good mental health .
NATIONALPARENTSURVEY . COM NATIONAL PARENT SURVEY 2024 25