Research Paper

The impact of the Brexit vote on young ethnic minorities’ mental health

By Valentina Di Iasio, Corrado Giulietti and Jackline Wahba

Publication details

Publication date
Series or book
ESRC Centre for Population Change Working Papers
Series or chapter number
112
Pages
pp. 1–31
Publisher
University of Southampton. ESRC Centre for Population Change
ISSN
20424116
View on cpc.ac.uk

Summary

This paper examines the impact of the 2016 Brexit referendum on the mental health of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the UK. Using longitudinal data and a Difference-in-Differences design exploiting geographic variation in Leave-vote intensity, we compare individuals before and after the referendum. Mental health among UK-born ethnic minority youth deteriorated in areas with stronger Leave support, while no such effect appears for White British youth. The findings highlight how political shocks and anti-immigration sentiment can undermine the wellbeing of second-generation minorities, deepening existing inequalities in a period of social and political polarisation.

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