Is it psychologically dangerous to live in a rich area? Evidence from census-matched micro data on UK suicides

Caspar Kaiser, Ekaterina Oparina and Andrew J. Oswald

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This paper uses micro data on UK suicides to implement a new test of relative-deprivation theory. Research into the potential consequences of relative comparisons had in the past had to rely on subjective data on wellbeing or on particular types of biomarker information. With information that was released under strict confidentiality requirements by the Office for National Statistics, we here report the first econometric results that are able to draw upon full census-matched micro-level records with register data on suicides in the United Kingdom. The paper’s key result is that suicide risk is greatest, ceteris paribus, in rich areas. Thus the long-standing belief that it is hazardous to live in a deprived place appears to be incorrect. For reasons explained in the paper, we believe it is possible that our estimates may understate the extent of the suicide risk.

Keywords: relative income; despair; suicide; relative comparisons (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-10-13
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Published in Review of Income and Wealth, 13, October, 2026. ISSN: 0034-6586

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