People suffering from mental health problems such as depression and panic attacks earn up to 42% less than their peers, prompting the government’s equalities watchdog to brand the pay gap “a disgrace”.
Evidence collected by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has exposed stark differences between the earnings of those suffering from psychological illness and those who are not. For every pound that a non-disabled man earns, men who have conditions such as phobias or panic attacks earn only 58p. Similarly, men with anxiety or depression are paid only 74p for every pound earned by their contemporaries those who have no such troubles.
The commission has found a similar but less pronounced pattern with women: those suffering from anxiety or depression earn 10p less for every pound earned by their non-disabled peers, according to research to be published next month which the commission has passed to theObserver.
“We must do more to tackle the injustice in our society of this mental health pay gap,” said David Isaac, EHRC chair. The figures revealed “the hidden disgrace of British society’s pay gap for men and women living with depression and panic attacks”, he added.
[For more of this story, written by Denis Campbell, go to https://www.theguardian.com/so...ession-panic-attacks]
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