People with psychotic illness experience very high rates of unemployment and low rates of labour force participation. They are also at greater risk of homelessness. Factors contributing to these high rates include social isolation, family breakdown, stigma, discrimination and the need for acute care, including hospital admissions.
Income and employment
Government pensions were the main source of income for 85.0% of people.One third (32.7%) were in paid employment and 30.5% were employed on a full-time basis (figure 19 and figure 20).
- 74.8% were in open, competitive employment
- 7.6% were self-employed and
- 17.1% were in sheltered, non-competitive employment.
- Males worked more hours per week in paid employment than females (26 compared to 20 hours respectively).
- Younger people (18-34 years) worked 25 hours on average compared with 22 hours per week for those aged 35-64 years.
For females, the most common occupations were labouring (26.5%) and community/ personal service work (26.4%).
Just over half (56.2%) of those in paid work had disclosed their mental health status to their employer.
Housing and homelessness
Half (48.6%) of people were renting, with 26.8% in public rentals and 21.8% in private rentals (figure 21).Whilst half (51.5%) were satisfied with their current living situation, 12.5% were somewhat or very dissatisfied.
Two-fifths (39.8%) would prefer to live in their own home or unit.
One-tenth (10.4%) of people had changed accommodation more than once in the previous year (figure 22).
Some 5.2% of people were homeless at the time of the study and 12.8% had experienced periods of homelessness over the previous year.
Half (52.8%) had discussed accommodation needs prior to hospital discharge, but 6.9% reported they had not been given any assistance and were homeless on discharge.
Figure 19: Source of income
Text version of figure 19
Source of income | Proportion (%) - males | Proportion (%) - females | |
---|---|---|---|
Any source of income (past year) | 99.5 | 97.8 | |
Main source government pension | 85.6 | 83.7 | |
Paid employment (past year) | 33.6 | 31.3 | |
Paid employment (current) | 21.2 | 22.0 |
Figure 20: Employment type for those employed in past year
Text version of figure 20
Employment type for those employed in past year:- Competitive part-time - 47.1%
- Competitive full-time - 27.7%
- Non-competitive part-time - 16.3%
- Self-employed part-time - 5.5%
- Self-employed full-time - 2.0%
- Non-competitive full-time - 0.8%
- Not known - 0.5%
Figure 21: Current and preferred accommodation
Text version of figure 21
Accommodation | Preferred | Current | |
---|---|---|---|
Public rented house/unit | 25.9 | 26.8 | |
Private rented house/unit | 17.2 | 21.8 | |
Family home | 10.4 | 19.1 | |
Own house/unit | 39.8 | 13.1 | |
Supported accommodation | 2.8 | 11.0 | |
Homeless | 2.4 | 5.2 | |
Institution/ hospital | 0.1 | 2.0 | |
Other (i.e. caravan) | 1.3 | 1.1 |
Figure 22: Housing changes in past year
Text version of figure 22
Housing changes in past year:- None - 72.5%
- One move - 17.0%
- Two moves - 3.7%
- Three or more moves - 6.7%
- Not known - 0.1%