Mental health problems in youth and later receipt of social assistance: do parental resources matter?

Abstract

In this article, we study the association between mental health problems in adolescence and early adulthood and later receipt of social assistance in the capital region of Finland. Using register data and following a cohort of adolescents to their early adulthood, we also examine whether the strength of this association varies according to household income during adolescence. We find that mental health problems from the ages of 16–17 and thereafter were associated with the receipt of social assistance at age 24, and more strongly among those with lower household income during their adolescence. Importantly, the same disorder groups emerged as the most important ones in predicting the use of social assistance across income quintiles. In this sense, we find similarity regardless of parental resources. This evidence is important for better understanding the mechanisms between circumstances during adolescence and later socioeconomic outcomes, including benefit use, yet the underlying factors should be studied further.