{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T06:01:24Z","timestamp":1791525684465,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,17]],"date-time":"2024-08-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1723852800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010269","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["200335\/Z\/15\/Z"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["200335\/Z\/15\/Z"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Epidemiol Community Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,24]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Child mental health has become an increasingly important issue in the UK, especially in the context of significant welfare reforms. Universal Credit (UC) has introduced substantial changes to the UK\u2019s social security system, significantly impacting low-income families. Our aim was to assess the effects of UC\u2019s introduction on children\u2019s mental health for families eligible for UC versus a comparable non-eligible sample.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Using Understanding Society data from 5806 observations of 4582 children (aged 5 or 8 years) in Great Britain between 2012 and 2018, we created two groups: children whose parents were eligible for UC (intervention group) and children whose parents were ineligible for UC (comparison group). Child mental health was assessed using a parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The OR and percentage point change in the prevalence of children experiencing mental health difficulties between the intervention group and the comparison group following the introduction of UC were analysed. We also investigated whether the utilisation of childcare services and changes in household income were mechanisms by which UC impacted children\u2019s mental health.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Logistic regression results demonstrated that the prevalence of mental health problems among eligible children whose parents were unemployed increased by an OR of 2.18 (95% CI 1.14 to 4.18), equivalent to an 8-percentage point increase (95% CI 1 to 14\u2009percentage points) following the introduction of UC, relative to the comparison group. Exploring potential mechanisms, we found neither reduced household income nor increased use of childcare services, which served as a proxy for reduced time spent with parents, significantly influenced children\u2019s mental health.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>UC has led to an increase in mental health problems among recipient children, particularly for children in larger families and those aged 8. Policymakers should carefully evaluate the potential health consequences for specific demographics when introducing new welfare policies.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2024-222293","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,17]],"date-time":"2024-08-17T13:20:41Z","timestamp":1723900841000},"page":"764-771","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Effect of Universal Credit on young children\u2019s mental health: quasi-experimental evidence from Understanding Society"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"78","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4771-7441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Huihui","family":"Song","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3907-8396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anwen","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4208-9475","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Benjamin","family":"Barr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophie","family":"Wickham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.12537"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.2","first-page":"1","article-title":"Mental health of children and young people in England, 2020","volume":"12","author":"Vizard","year":"2020","journal-title":"Change"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2015.11.009"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.4","unstructured":"National Audit Office . Rolling out Universal Credit. Dep Work Pensions; 2018. Available: https:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Rolling-out-Universal-Credit.pdf"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alvarez-Vilanova J . The impact of Universal Credit on employment outcomes. SSRN J 2018;3982445. doi:10.2139\/ssrn.3982445","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3982445"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.6","unstructured":"Chris Drake . Universal Credit and Debt: evidence from Citizens Advice about how Universal Credit affects personal debt problems. 2017.1\u201336. Available: https:\/\/www.citizensadvice.org.uk\/Global\/CitizensAdvice\/welfare publications\/Universal Credit and Debt - final.pdf"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0047279417000915"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0047279420000021"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bjc\/azac043"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"D\u2019Este R , Harvey A . Universal Credit and Crime. SSRN Electron J 2020. doi:10.2139\/ssrn.3642502","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3642502"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(20)30026-8"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Brewer M , Dang T , Tominey E . Universal Credit: Welfare Reform and Mental Health. SSRN Electron J 2022.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.4114738"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1332\/175982721X16437383460256"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3368\/jhr.1222-12709R2"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.15","unstructured":"Finch D . Universal challenge: making a success of Universal Credit. Resolut Found; 2016.7."},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2017.10.025"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12888-021-03218-x","article-title":"Validation of the parent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to screen mental health problems among school-age children in Mongolia","volume":"21","author":"Aoki","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC Psychiatry"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.18","unstructured":"Understanding Society . Main survey. n.d. Available: https:\/\/www.understandingsociety.ac.uk\/documentation\/mainstage"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.19","unstructured":"Child Poverty Action Group . Broken promises: what has happened to support for low-income working damilies under Universal Credit? 2017.1\u201328. Available: http:\/\/www.cpag.org.uk\/sites\/default\/files\/Broken promises FINAL for website.pdf"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.20","unstructured":"Terapia . Scoring strengths and difficulties questionnaire. 2020. Available: https:\/\/terapia.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/SDQ-scoring_Instructions_4-18-years.pdf"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssmph.2018.03.002"},{"key":"2025100302560635000_78.12.764.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/occmed\/kql169"}],"container-title":["Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jech-2024-222293","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,3]],"date-time":"2025-10-03T09:56:15Z","timestamp":1759485375000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jech.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jech-2024-222293"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,17]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,11]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jech-2024-222293"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jech-2024-222293","relation":{},"ISSN":["0143-005X","1470-2738"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0143-005X","type":"print"},{"value":"1470-2738","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,17]]}}}