Nearly all working parents caring for neurodiverse children say their mental health has suffered
The charity Mindroom said it had a sense of how hard life is for working parents who are carers but these figures set out the stark reality
Nearly 100 per cent of working parents caring for neurodiverse children say their mental health has suffered as a result, figures show.
Stark new findings outline the "alarming" pressures on working parents looking after children with autism and other developmental disorders.
Respondents to a survey - almost all women - said their careers had been impacted by caring duties and household income affected.
Charity Mindroom is now calling for employers to do more to support parents of children with diverse needs.
CEO Alan Thornburrow said: It's not new to us, but it is rightfully pretty alarming.
“We've seen the impact on working mums for many years through the nature of our work but it was helpful to have this report provide a bit more of an evidence base around that.”
Of those surveyed, 98 per cent said the challenges of juggling work and caring duties had negative impacted their mental health.
Nearly nine in 10 said their caring role has limited their ability to work or progress in their careers.
Almost three quarters have changed their working patterns while more than half said they have reduced their hours.
Some 30 per cent have taken a career break or left work completely.
Mr Thornburrow said: “Around four years ago we began embarking on a program of work with employers to ask how we move neurodiversity up the radar when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Relative to other areas of equality, this was getting a lot less visibility.”
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Mindroom offers support and advocacy to people with neurodiversity such as ADHD and autism.
It said people it works with have a “daily fight” for basic support and long waits for assessment.
Mr Thornburrow said the difficulties experienced by parents and carers are not caused by neurodivergent children themselves, but by systems that fail to provide timely and coordinated support.
Mr Thornburrow added: “We heard increasingly this story of parents and carers who were juggling a whole lot of unseen issues under the waterline, and that was becoming increasingly loud.
“What we have found has been quite alarming in terms of the extent of the challenges people are facing.
“This is a body of people who, in a workplace context, are not heard or understood yet.”
Some 87 per cent of the respondents to the survey were women, who are more likely to be carers.
Demand for services at Mindroom have increased by 309 per cent over five years, the charity said.
“But what has gone up even more sharply by a factor of about three,” Mr Thornburrow said, “Is presentation of mental ill health, anxiety and depression.
“In this report, it was virtually 100 per cent of respondents said there's been a family impact from a mental health and well-being perspective.”
Mr Thornburrow said he was also taken aback by the high numbers of people who said they had to reduce their working hours or even step back from work altogether.
He said: “I found those stats pretty shocking but there is lots we can do and positive roles employers can play.
“Because if the culture isn’t one that is supportive, it can exacerbate a lot of the strains people are facing.”
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