More teachers reporting mental health problems

One in 20 teachers in England are reporting a long-lasting mental health problem and their wellbeing has not improved over the past three decades, according to a new UCL study. The working paper, published today and funded by the Nuffield Foundation is the first piece of research to examine the mental health and wellbeing of teachers in England over time. Researchers analysed data from over 20,000 teachers and education professionals collected at different waves between 1992 and 2018 from three large population based surveys. Lead author, Professor John Jerrim (UCL Institute of Education), said: "The teaching profession in England is currently in the midst of a crisis and one potential reason why its struggling to recruit and retain enough teachers is due to the pressures of the job. "It has long been known that teaching is a stressful and challenging career and we wanted to see if the mental health and wellbeing of teachers had improved or declined, especially in light of government promises to ease the burden upon the teaching profession." The findings show that around five per cent of teachers in England now say that they suffer from a long-lasting mental health problem which has lasted (or is likely to last) for more than 12 months, up from just one per cent in the 1990s. There has also been an increase in the percentage of education professionals who have been prescribed antidepressant medication, from around one per cent in the early 2000s to around five per cent today.