Poor Mental Health in Children

The anxiety epidemic: Why are children so unhappy? in the Independent is yet another article mentioning that family breakdown is damaging children's mental health. However, the figures in this Office of National Statistics 2005 news release reveal that children in different family types fare just as badly or even worse.

It is true that the prevalence of mental disorders was found greater among children in single parent families (16%) when compared to two-parent families (8%) but it was also high;-

• in families whose interviewed parent had no educational qualifications (17 per cent) compared with those who had a
degree level qualification (four per cent);

• in families with neither parent working (20 per cent) compared
with those in which both parents worked (eight per cent);

• in families with a gross weekly household income of less than
£100 (16 per cent) compared with those with an income of
£600 or more (five per cent).