As part of LSE Health's 30th anniversary, we're delighted to welcome Professor Janet Currie to examine the realities behind the child mental health crisis.

The child mental health crisis has been characterised as the "defining public health crisis of our time," generating widespread concern among policymakers, healthcare professionals, and families. Yet despite extensive media coverage and policy attention, fundamental misconceptions persist about the nature, origins, and solutions to this crisis. In this lecture, Professor Janet Currie will challenge three prevailing myths that shape our understanding of youth mental health: the assumption that this crisis is a recent phenomenon, the belief that rising youth suicide rates primarily reflect deteriorating mental health among children, and the notion that investments in children have minimal impact on mental health outcomes. Through rigorous economic analysis and evidence-based research, Professor Currie will demonstrate that the youth mental health crisis has deeper historical roots than commonly acknowledged, that suicide trends often move independently of other mental health indicators, and that targeted investments in children can yield significant improvements in mental health outcomes. This lecture offers a data-driven perspective that reframes our understanding of child mental health challenges and points toward more effective policy responses.

Meet the speaker and chair

Professor Janet Currie is a Professor of Economics at Yale University and co-director of the Program on Families and Children at the National Bureau of Economic Research. A pioneer in the economic analysis of child development, her research focuses on socioeconomic differences in health, environmental threats to health, child mental health, and the long-run impact of child health. Professor Currie is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy, and served as the 2024 President of the American Economic Association. She has received numerous prestigious honors, including the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize (2023), recognition as a Clarivate Citation Laureate (2024), and selection as one of the top 10 women in Economics by the World Economic Forum (2015). She holds honorary degrees from the University of Lyon, the University of Zurich, and the Università della Svizzera Italiana, and has presented her work at venues ranging from the White House to the European Investment Bank.

Professor Joan Costa-Font is Professor of Health Economics at the LSE, where he is one of the coordinators of the Ageing@LSE group. He is a faculty associate of LSE Health  and the International Inequalities Institute, where he leads the Ageing and Health Incentives Lab (AHIL) and co-leads the  perceptions of inequality program respectively. He is affiliated with the two major global economics research networks, namely IZA, and CESifo.