YOUNG people are facing a jobs and mental health crisis which could outlast the pandemic, a new report warns.

The Resolution Foundation said young people have been at the centre of two interlinked crises during the pandemic, suffering the greatest job losses and sharpest increase in mental health conditions of any age group.

The think tank said there had been “worrying trends” in young people’s mental health in the run-up to and during the crisis. Those aged 18 to 24 have gone from being the least likely age group to have common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression in 2000, to being the most likely to have them in 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic has turbo-charged the crisis, said the report’s authors, adding that a sharp deterioration in young people’s mental health is linked to the “huge” employment hit they have suffered over the pandemic period.

To tackle the double crisis, the foundation urged the government to intensify efforts to keep young people in work by expanding and extending its Kickstart Scheme. It also called for access to mental health support to be strengthened.

Resolution Foundation senior research and policy analyst Rukmen Sehmi said: “Young people are facing a double jobs and mental health crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These two crises are linked too, with young people who have lost their jobs most at risk of experiencing mental health problems.

“Worryingly, experiencing these mental health problems today can harm young people’s employment prospects in the future too.

“It is essential therefore that, as we emerge out of the pandemic, the government intensifies its efforts to get young people back working and provides the right support for anyone suffering with mental health problems.”