Sanctions ‘harming mental health of poor’
UK GOVERNMENT benefits sanctions may be harming the mental health of the poorest Scots, the Chief Medical Officer says.
Catherine Calderwood’s annual report also stresses the need to “truly improve health and reduce inequalities”. It told how Scotland “would be one of the healthiest countries in Europe” if everyone BY KATRINE BUSSEY enjoyed the same level of health as those living in the most affluent areas.
And it warned of the “potential adverse impact on mental health” of sanctions. The Scottish Health Survey has gathered data on anxiety levels among adults since 2008.
Calderwood’s report said: “Examination of these data before and after the new welfare sanctions regime were introduced indicate a potential adverse impact on mental health.
“Among adults living in households in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance or income support in 2008-11 (before the change), 19 per cent had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. Among those in a similar position in 2013-15 (after), the proportion was 30 per cent.”
While it said there had been a “long-term decline in death rates in Scotland”, it added that “this decline in mortality has not in general been as rapid as the rest of the UK or other European countries”.