The Hidden Economic Value Of Online Crisis Counselors
The Hidden Economic Value of Online Crisis Counselors
Around the world, untreated mental health conditions impose massive economic burdens. Hundreds of billions of dollars every year are lost to medical and disability costs, absenteeism, and productivity loss. National spending on mental health is insufficient to meet demand, and there are simply not enough skilled providers to address global mental health needs.
Crisis Text Line volunteers have been addressing this crisis since 2013. Over the course of millions of hours, they have performed mental health interventions, de-escalating crises and connecting people to appropriate resources. This work mirrors professional therapeutic services yet remains unpaid, and largely unmeasured in traditional economic terms.
In a new study, Crisis Text Line partnered with the University of Sydney’s Mental Wealth Initiative to better quantify the contribution of these volunteers. The findings tell the story of a volunteer community that has been addressing critical service gaps as healthcare systems face acute workforce shortages around the world.
Here is what we found: #
In 2024 alone, Crisis Text Line volunteers in the U.S.:
- Donated 711,000 hours of skilled mental health crisis intervention, as they
- Supported 1.4 million crisis conversations. By doing so,
- Volunteers produced $21 million in economic value in 2024 that remains unrecognized in conventional economic accounting.
The most value was created by groups who are typically not credited for their economic contribution. Including:
- Women, who generated $14 million – nearly two thirds of the total economic value.
- Young people between 18-24, who generated $12 million, which is over half of the total economic value.
- Students, who generated $11 million – over half of the total economic value, and more than any other employment category.
Over Crisis Text Line’s lifetime, U.S. volunteers:
- Supported over 10 million crisis conversations
- Produced over $164 million in economic value that remains unrecognized by traditional measures.
These patterns hold at a global scale. Together with our affiliates in the U.K. and Canada, our volunteer community:
- Contributed over 7 million hours to supporting people in crisis between 2018 and 2024.
- In doing so, they created over $185 million USD in global economic value
Quantifying our volunteers’ contribution elevates the substantial economic value generated by populations whose work is traditionally undervalued. It also highlights an essential pathway for increasing care where professional workforce capacity is constrained.
