Millennials’ battle with work-related mental health problems causes spike in permanent disability claims

Millennials’ mental health has reached an all-time low, with more young workers than ever before making the drastic decision to leave the workforce for good. Workers in their 30s making total and permanent disability claims due to mental health — meaning they feel they will never be able to return to work again — has increased 732 per cent in the past decade. A lack of workplace support, personal stressors, and a changing workplace culture — including an increase in bullying — were among the reasons the mental health of our youngest workers is in the gutter, according to experts. Mental health made up 36 per cent of the permanent disability claims for Australian workers in their 30s compared to only 10 per cent in 2013, according to the Council of Life Insurance Australia. There was also a 31 per cent increase from 2013 to 2023 in temporary mental health disability claims for workers in that age bracket. Council of Australian Life Insurers chief executive Christine Cupitt said it was “really troubling” for someone in their 30s to make the decision to no longer work. “People are being left with little choice but to label themselves totally and permanently disabled, even where the medical evidence shows there is a chance they could return to work,” she said. “It’s a square peg in a round hole and clear evidence that more needs to be done to build a mentally fitter community.” Speaking anecdotally, Ms Cupitt said life insurers were dealing with an increasing number of claims related to stress, burnout and workplace bullying. It’s an issue workplace mental health service SuperFriend has also noticed, reporting to The Sunday Times almost one in three WA Gen Z workers — 13 to 28 year olds — and 29 per cent of millennial workers — 29 to 44 year olds — were exposed to at least one harmful workplace experience in 2024. This included bullying, violence from customers, and workplaces monitoring employees through emails and webcams. For 28-year-old Rachel Nyiramugisha, who attends GROW peer support group sessions, prioritising her mental health was the reason she left a job after only being there for a month. “It’s OK to prioritise my mental health, however, it doesn’t mean that the workforce industry has caught up to that idea of thinking,” she said. “I was at a job for about a month and a half and I had to leave because my mental health was tanking down the toilet because I was borderline bullied. “I tried my best and went through the proper reporting channels but I couldn’t continue to deal with it.” “There’s a disconnect — you keep your mental health in a separate compartment while you’re at work, you’re there to do your job,” 42-year-old Tracey Baker added. Ms Baker said millennial workers making a claim for permanent disability would have to be at a point of desperation. “They must keep on going without stopping and thinking about what they can do for their self care,” she said. “If someone is getting to that point they obviously aren’t getting the support they need — something is broken.” Reo-Blu Care, 21, said cost of living stress was also seeping into workforce pressures for employees her age. “The pressures of cost of living is a big issue because people I know are having to get second jobs or do overtime like crazy to be able to afford to live,” she said. “That’s been a really big stressor for people my age and also work-life balance isn’t really a thing anymore.” More than three-quarters of WA Gen Z workers and three in five millennial employees have experienced either moderate or severe psychological distress within a month — compared to 42 per cent of Gen X, 40 to 60 year olds, and 24 per cent of baby boomers. Less than half of Gen Z felt comfortable to talk about their mental health at work while only 11 per cent of those with a mental health condition in WA said their workplace had made a positive impact on their well-being. University of Western Australia HR Management and Organisational Behaviour senior lecturer Joseph Carpini said it was common for mental health issues to catch up to people in their 20s and 30s. “We do know some mental health conditions do start manifesting in their 20s as pressure and the external requirements catch up to people,” he said. “This is often times a tricky part of your career as you’re navigating the later part of your early career and transitioning into leadership roles for the first time or your scope might be increasing. “There’s not always a great support system in place to allow that age group to really thrive in those new positions.” But some have suggested there could be a culture of over-diagnosis, with Federal MP and GP Mike Freelander at the weekend saying he was concerned at the way “society has decided to compensate people”. “A lot [of] the stuff happening is not evidence-based and the insurers and the general population have to foot the bill for supporting people who may not be able to get back into the workforce,” he told the AFR. “There needs to be a much more realistic look at diagnosis and evidence-based treatment. We need a more rational approach if we are going to be able to afford it.” Dr Carpini said older generations were also often more willing to push through work challenges while younger generations prioritise their mental health. “In older generations they might have been more willing to trade off burnout or mental health concerns for work, whereas now there seems to be a lower tolerance for making that trade off.” SuperFriend senior research fellow Dianne Sheppard said millennials being more in tune with their wellbeing and higher levels of distress in the workplace since COVID were contributing to younger workers leaving the workforce. “The levels of distress in workplaces became high very quickly during COVID but they’ve remained high,” she said. “When we go to work we take our whole selves, so what we find for the younger group of workers is that a high proportion of them are experiencing high financial distress and also a loneliness epidemic. “Workers in their late 20s and early 30s there are additional pressures with critical life transitions like becoming a parent, caring for dependents like elderly parents, and those going through personal family crises. “We know that distress is not something that only the workplace adds to and so it can accumulate.” Dr Sheppard said there was an opportunity for workplaces to offer more support including encouraging workers to use the employee assistance program — a free and confidential therapy program for workers — but she said these programs were underutilised. “It’s pretty disastrous circumstances that prompt people to claim for total permanent disability at such a young age,” she said. “The data speaks to higher levels of burnout and psychological distress in those younger generations and we can do so much more as workplaces to prevent that.”