Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that for the first quarter of this year, around one in five (21 per cent) adults experienced some form of depression, more than double the rate observed before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
For working age adults aged 16 to 64 years, those with lower gross personal incomes of less than £10,000 a year had the highest rates of depressive symptoms (37 per cent) when compared with around one in 10 earning £50,000 or more.
Almost three in 10 adults (28 per cent) living in the most deprived areas of England experienced depressive symptoms, compared with just under two in 10 (17 per cent) in the least deprived areas.
Around one in three adults who reported being unable to afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £850 experienced some form of depression, compared with 13 per cent of adults who said they could afford the expense.
Unemployed adults were more likely to experience depressive symptoms than those who were employed or self-employed.
Adults educated “below degree level” had higher rates of depressive symptoms (23 per cent) when compared with those with no qualifications (19 per cent), a degree or equivalent (18 per cent) or “other qualifications” (16 per cent).
Younger adults and women were more likely to experience some form of depression, with over four in 10 women (43 per cent) aged 16 to 29 years experiencing depressive symptoms, compared with 26 per cent of men of the same age group.
Disabled (39 per cent) and clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) adults (31 per cent) were more likely to experience some form of depression than non-disabled (13 per cent) and non-CEV adults (20 per cent).
You can read the analysis in full here.