ON MOTHER’S DAY, the role of mothers is acknowledged with flowers and chocolates. But mothers need more than that. They, and other primary carers in the home, need genuine social support, and what the research is showing us about the mental health of young people now, they need it fast.

Research is showing that something is going badly wrong in the lives of young people in Ireland. One study points to young people being more miserable and anxious than their parents, with a quarter of school-age adolescents having mental well-being that was “bad” or “very bad”.

The Planet Youth Survey 2018-2023 reported that one-in-12 Irish teenagers aged 15-19 have attempted suicide in their lifetime, while more than one-in-ten have self-harmed, and one-in-five reported poor mental health.

“Our study shows that in a typical classroom of 25 senior-cycle students, five will report poor mental health, three will have self- harmed multiple times, and two will have attempted suicide in their life,” the researchers said.

This, at a time when our society continues to organise itself around a narrow definition of success, with a culture of long working hours, rising productivity and constant economic growth.

What has happened to the mental well-being of our young people? Social media may be playing a role – so also is the loss of what happened before this tech came along – when kids spent most of their time out of school at home, in their communities, running around with their pals and in and out the back door, where usually mothers kept a watchful eye.

That’s not possible anymore. The economic climate demands that both parents work in order to be able to pay their bills. Many parents work because they can’t afford to stay at home, even if they would prefer to be able to care for their children themselves.

On Mother’s Day, tomorrow, we will celebrate as we do every year, but the people raising children in Ireland need something far more meaningful: the time, security and social support to actually do that caring. 

We have the ludicrous situation where the State is opting to subsidise childcare so that parents can go out to work, instead of the alternative, which is that the State would pay parents a basic income to be able to mind their own children in their own homes.

Let’s be clear, children in formal childcare and parents who want to be in paid employment should be supported fully. The reality is that many parents go to work even though they would........

© TheJournal