LifeWorks, a leading provider of digital and in-person total wellbeing solutions, today released its monthly Mental Health Index™ that showed 56 per cent of Canadians report negative impacts on their children due to events over the last two years. Additionally, almost twice as many Canadians’ buying/investment decisions are influenced by the treatment they receive from their company versus how a company behaves environmentally.
The Index found that Canadian workers are experiencing increasing strain with an unfavourable mental health score.
- The Mental Health Index™ score for July 2022 is 65.0 points out of one hundred, a slight increase from June’s score of 64.1 points.
Canadian children are facing a range of negative impacts due to the events of the last two years
- Twenty-seven per cent of Canadians report their children experience anxiety about the future due to events of the last two years. Additionally, children 15 years of age and older have more anxiety about the future than the Canadian average.
- Twenty-four per cent of Canadians report the events of the last two years have had negative impacts on their children’s social development.
- Twenty-three per cent of individuals report the events of the last two years have had negative impacts on their children’s academic development.
- Only 39 per cent of Canadian parents report no major impact on their children. This group has a mental health score of 72.4, more than seven points higher than the national average.
Almost twice as many Canadians’ buying/investment decisions are influenced by how a company treats their employees versus the company’s environmental behaviour
- Thirty-three per cent of respondents are influenced by how a brand/company treats their employees.
- Fifteen per cent of respondents are influenced by how a brand/company responds to social justice issues.
- Thirteen per cent of respondents are influenced by how a brand/company behaves environmentally.
Comments from president and chief executive officer, Stephen Liptrap
“When it comes to the disruption and isolations of the pandemic, children’s mental health has been heavily impacted. Understandably, this is having a major impact on parents and families as a result. As organizations consider the wellbeing support provided to employees, emphasis on parental needs and employee and family assistance programs is crucial. These resources are critical to ensuring that employees and their families can thrive, which benefits those families, their employers and society in general.”
Comments from global leader and senior vice president, research and total wellbeing, Paula Allen
“We rightfully are concerned about organizations’ impact on the environment, but many organizations underestimate how important their impact on employees is to customers and investors. The link between an organization’s support for employee wellbeing and organizational productivity, innovation, and customer service is crystal clear, and now so is the link to consumer buying and investing preferences.”
The full Canadian LifeWorks Mental Health Index™ report can be found here. This month, the report includes additional insights on conflict at work, areas of tension at work, trust within the workplace and more. To receive LifeWorks Mental Health Index™ every month, subscribe here.
About the Mental Health Index™
The monthly survey by LifeWorks was conducted through an online survey in English and French from July 7 to 12, 2022 with 3,000 respondents in Canada. All respondents reside in Canada and were employed within the last six months. The data has been statistically weighted to ensure the regional and gender composition of the sample reflect this population. The Mental Health Index™ is published monthly, beginning April 2020, and compares against benchmark data collected in 2017, 2018, 2019.
Beginning in May 2022, corresponding to the third year of the Mental Health Index™ by LifeWorks, scores are represented as absolute. To create the Mental Health Index™, a response scoring system is applied to turn individual responses into point values. Higher point values are associated with better mental health and less mental health risk. Scores between 0 to 49 correspond with distress levels, scores between 50 to 79 correspond with strain levels and scores between 80 to 100 correspond with optimal levels.
