{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,31]],"date-time":"2025-08-31T17:40:03Z","timestamp":1756662003035,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,2]],"date-time":"2025-06-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748822400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":152,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000269","name":"Economic and Social Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ES\/S007253\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ES\/S007253\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000265","name":"Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MC_UU_00022\/2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MC_UU_00022\/2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000265","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000589","name":"Chief Scientist Office","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SPHSU17"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SPHSU17"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000589","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["bmjph"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,21]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) encourages people in low-income households to stay in education. It was abolished in England but continues in the rest of the UK (RUK). We investigated if the abolition of the EMA was associated with psychological distress using a difference-in-difference design.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The sample of 1328 observations was drawn from Understanding Society participants aged 16\/17 at the start of the academic years 2009\u20132018 and in the bottom income decile. Exposure to the EMA policy regime was identified using an interaction between the UK area (RUK vs England) and EMA policy period. The 2009\/2010 academic years indicated the EMA period, 2011 the transition period (when EMA receipt was limited to existing recipients) and 2012\u20132018 post-EMA. The primary outcome was the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) score ranging 0\u201336. Other outcomes include the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) and a physical health falsification outcome. Linear regression using robust SEs, adjusting for sex and month of interview, was conducted.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>In England, relative to RUK and the EMA period, the transition period (Coef 4.20; 95%\u2009CI 1.12 to 7.28) and the post-EMA period (Coef 2.89; 95%\u2009CI 0.67 to 5.11) were associated with worse GHQ-12 scores. Results for other mental health outcomes were similar, with no associations with the falsification outcome.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Young people living in low-income households in England appeared to have worse mental health following the removal of the EMA, compared with RUK. However, it is not possible to rule out the potential contribution of cointerventions, such as the raising of mandatory age for education to 17 years in 2013 and 18 years in 2015.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjph-2024-001677","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]],"date-time":"2025-06-04T05:18:14Z","timestamp":1749014294000},"page":"e001677","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mental health of UK youth following the removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance in England: a natural experiment study using Understanding Society data"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"3","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7906-6066","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard John","family":"Shaw","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"MRC\/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7654-9687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew James","family":"Baxter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MRC\/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6593-9092","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Srinivasa Vittal","family":"Katikireddi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MRC\/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/s2215-0366(21)00395-3"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2216207120","article-title":"Global trends in emotional distress","volume":"120","author":"Daly","year":"2023","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2022-219660"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(11)60871-4"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(20)30144-4","article-title":"Education: a neglected social determinant of health","volume":"5","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1080\/03069885.2018.1455168","article-title":"The casualties of transition: the health impact of NEET status and some approaches to managing it","volume":"47","author":"Robertson","year":"2019","journal-title":"Br J Guid Counc"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12459","article-title":"Committed to work but vulnerable: self-perceptions and mental health in NEET 18-year olds from a contemporary British cohort","volume":"57","author":"Goldman-Mellor","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Child Psychol Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1080\/09645292.2024.2308272","article-title":"The medium-term impact of a conditional cash transfer programme on educational outcomes in England","volume":"33","author":"Jiang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Educ Econ"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.9","first-page":"827","article-title":"Conditional cash transfers and school dropout rates","volume":"44","author":"Dearden","year":"2009","journal-title":"J Hum Resour"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.10","unstructured":"Bolton P . Education maintenance allowance (EMA) statistics. London House of Commons Library Standard Note; 2011. Available: http:\/\/dera.ioe.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/22792"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Britton J , Dearden L . The 16 to 19 Bursary fund impact evaluation: research report. London Department for Education, Institute of Education & Institute for Fiscal Studies; 2015. Available: https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/1475811","DOI":"10.1920\/re.ifs.2024.0461"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.12","unstructured":"Bryer N , Williams G , Davies R . Evaluation of the education maintenance allowance (EMA). Cardiff: Welsh Government Social Research, 2014. Available: https:\/\/www.gov.wales\/sites\/default\/files\/statistics-and-research\/2019-07\/141023-evaluation-education-maintenace-allowance-en.pdf"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.13","unstructured":"House of Commons Education Committee . Participation by 16\u201319 year olds in education and training (fourth report of session 2010-12) (HC 850-1). London The Stationary Office; 2011.1\u201373. Available: https:\/\/publications.parliament.uk\/pa\/cm201012\/cmselect\/cmeduc\/850\/85002.htm"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.14","unstructured":"University of Essex Institute for Social and Economic Research . Understanding society: waves 1-13, 2009-2022 and harmonised BHPS: waves 1-18, 1991-2009: special licence access. [data collection]. SN: 6931. 16th edn. UK Data Service, 2023."},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291796004242"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1007\/s11136-009-9582-z","article-title":"Deriving SF-12v2 physical and mental health summary scores: a comparison of different scoring algorithms","volume":"19","author":"Fleishman","year":"2010","journal-title":"Qual Life Res"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morgan SL , Winship C . Counterfactuals and causal inference: methods and principles for social research. 2nd edn. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2014.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781107587991"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2018-022924","article-title":"Trends in gender and socioeconomic inequalities in mental health following the Great Recession and subsequent austerity policies: a repeat cross-sectional analysis of the Health Surveys for England","volume":"8","author":"Thomson","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.19","unstructured":"McKendrick A . Paying students to stay in school: short-and long-term effects of a conditional cash transfer in England, Working papers 352591296. Lancaster, UK: Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department, 2022. Available: https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/media\/lancaster-university\/content-assets\/documents\/lums\/economics\/working-papers\/LancasterWP2022_002.pdf"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113616","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2020.113616","article-title":"Educational stressors and secular trends in school stress and mental health problems in adolescents","volume":"270","author":"H\u00f6gberg","year":"2021","journal-title":"Soc Sci Med"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1819","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2010.08.012","article-title":"Can we explain increases in young people\u2019s psychological distress over time?","volume":"71","author":"Sweeting","year":"2010","journal-title":"Soc Sci Med"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104137","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpubeco.2020.104137","article-title":"Does longer compulsory schooling affect mental health? Evidence from a British reform","volume":"183","author":"Avendano","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Public Econ"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102252","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhealeco.2019.102252","article-title":"The causal effect of education on chronic health conditions in the UK","volume":"70","author":"Janke","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Health Econ"},{"key":"2025083109575617000_3.1.e001677.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(24)00163-9"}],"container-title":["BMJ Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjph-2024-001677","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,31]],"date-time":"2025-08-31T16:58:06Z","timestamp":1756659486000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmjpublichealth.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjph-2024-001677"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,3]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bmjph-2024-001677"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjph-2024-001677","relation":{},"ISSN":["2753-4294"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2753-4294"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,1]]}}}