The Impact of Employment Advisors on earnings and employment status, England.
Posted on Tuesday 26 May 2026
EA support is available through NHSTT alongside psychological therapy. The service offers tailored advice for people out of work to find employment, and for people in employment when stress, anxiety or depression are affecting their work.
This work was carried out by the ONS in collaboration with the University of York, as part of the Support2Work project. This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) under its Work & Health Research Initiative (Grant Reference Number NIHR207664).
Dr. Emma Sharland from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said:
“Today’s analysis looks at how combined programmes of therapy and employment support can help individuals’ employment and earnings prospects. The analysis can provide insight to policymakers on the economic impacts to individuals who undertake employment advisor support whilst undergoing psychological therapy for their mental health. Previous ONS data shows that over 17m days of work were lost due to mental health conditions in the UK in 2025.”
Key findings:
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Among individuals not working at the start of NHSTT treatment, receiving EA support alongside psychological therapy increased earnings and employment over time, compared with receiving psychological therapy only; on average, monthly earnings were £105 higher and the probability of being in paid employment after three years was 4.7 percentage points higher.
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Individuals not working and describing themselves as homemakers at the start of NHSTT treatment experienced the largest increases in earnings and employment over time after receiving EA support alongside psychological therapy; there was an average increase of £219 in monthly earnings and a 12.8 percentage point increase in the probability of being in paid employment after three years, compared with receiving psychological therapy only.
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Among people employed and working at the start of NHSTT treatment, those receiving EA support alongside psychological therapy experienced a decrease in earnings and employment over time compared with receiving psychological therapy only; there was an average decrease of £160 in monthly earnings and a 3.7 percentage point reduction in the probability of being in paid employment after three years.
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Among individuals employed and working at the start of NHSTT treatment and who remained in employment throughout the follow-up period, those receiving EA support alongside psychological therapy experienced an average decrease of £104 in monthly earnings three years later, compared with receiving psychological therapy only; this may suggest that people in employment are moving to lower-paying jobs or reducing their working hours.
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Individuals employed but off sick at the start of NHSTT treatment, who received EA support alongside psychological therapy, experienced an average decrease of £224 in monthly earnings and a 5.0 percentage point reduction in the probability of being in paid employment after three years, compared with receiving psychological therapy only.