Mental health and education decisions

Francesca Cornaglia, Elena Crivellaro and Sandra McNally

Labour Economics, 2015, vol. 33, issue C, 1-12

Abstract: Mental health problems have been rising internationally. The link between poor mental health and low educational outcomes is particularly interesting in the case of the UK which has a low international ranking both on measures of child wellbeing and the probability of early drop-out from the labour market and education. We study this issue using a large longitudinal study of a recent cohort of teenagers in England. We use the General Health Questionnaire to derive measures of poor mental health. We find a large negative association between being at risk of poor mental health and educational outcomes — where we consider examination results before leaving compulsory education and the probability of being ‘not in education, employment or training’ at a young age. Results are stronger for girls and also vary according to the different components of the mental health measure. It is important for practitioners and policy makers to pay attention to symptoms of poor mental health.

Keywords: Mental health; Educational attainment; Drop-out (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I1 I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (50)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Mental Health and Education Decisions (2012)
Working Paper: Mental Health and Education Decisions (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:33:y:2015:i:c:p:1-12

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2015.01.005

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