- Conference
- 2025 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 18 October 2024
- Decision
- Carried
As a result of the Covid19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and cuts to jobs and services, there has been a significant increase in mental health related illnesses, with poor mental health reported as the main reason for absence from work.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, social and economic factors can put women at greater risk of poor mental health than men.
Around 1 in 5 women have a common mental health problem such as depression and anxiety and while there can be many reasons why these develop, some risk factors affect many women. Women are more likely than men to:
• be carers, which can lead to stress, anxiety and isolation
• live in poverty which, along with concerns about personal safety and working mainly in the home, can lead to social isolation
• experience physical and sexual abuse, which can have a long-term impact on their mental health
• experience sexual violence, which can cause PTSD
Life events and hormonal changes can also affect women’s mental health. For example:
• Having a baby can trigger ante and post-natal depression
• The menopause can include changes to women’s mental health, such as mood swings, anxiety and feeling low
Women make up most of the frontline health and care workers, are over-represented in low-paid and insecure work and are more likely to have pre-existing difficulties with debt and bills.
All women in these positions were at a higher risk of developing a mental health problem before the pandemic and are now at an increased risk as the economic impact of the pandemic take their toll. Women are also more likely to be affected by domestic violence and abuse, and were at a greater risk of this during the Lockdowns.
It should be remembered that the majority of members of UNISON are women and across the movement as a whole, a report published by the TUC in March 2023 found trade union membership in the UK grew by over 100,000 in 2019/20, with women making up 58 per cent of trade union membership at 3.76 million members.
Due to women carrying the burden of organising both at work and at home, this increases women’s mental health issues in comparison to men.
When women find it hard to talk about difficult feelings, they tend to internalise and this can lead to depression, eating disorders and self-harm.
Society expects women to put others’ needs first, and while this can lead to higher levels of mental ill-health it also means women are uniquely placed to be able to empathise with women members experiencing mental ill-health and are more likely to have experience of help available, as well as experiencing these problems themselves.
Figures show:
• Approximately one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year
• One in six will experience anxiety and depression each week
• Last year, there was a 46 per cent in urgent referrals to mental health crisis teams
• According to the World Health Organisation, 700,000 people take their own life each year – one person every 40 seconds.
In 2024, the UK officially fell into recession after the energy crisis of the previous two years and there is an estimated £2.4 billion of energy debt alone. Nearly 10 million in the UK are in debt and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to impact on the economy.
UNISON stewards are supporting more and more members experiencing financial difficulties and with mental ill health.
Trying to provide the support members so desperately need takes its toll on the mental health and well-being of stewards, who so often put the needs of members before their own.
So much of the existing training provisions for trade union stewards focuses on supporting members but not on supporting stewards.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to:
1)Work with LAOS to introduce a programme of Mental Health First Aid Training to be delivered through our learning and organising for women activists
2)Encourage branches to work with employers to seek to introduce Mental
Health First Aider programmes
3. Raise awareness of the specific challenges mental ill health has on women in the workplace and strengthen our advice on risk assessments and what support is available
4. Produce specific materials for a campaign to reverse cuts to mental health services and allocate the necessary resources that can be used across all four nations
5. Work with LAOS to introduce guidance, support and training on supporting stewards’ mental health and preventing burnout as part of stewards training