Examining the relationship between income and both mental and physical health among adults in the UK: Analysis of 12 waves (2009–2022) of Understanding Society

Howard Reed, Daniel Nettle (), Fiorella Parra-Mujica, Graham Stark, Richard Wilkinson, Matthew Johnson () and Elliott Johnson ()
Additional contact information
Howard Reed: Northumbria University [Newcastle]
Daniel Nettle: IJN - Institut Jean-Nicod - DEC - Département d'Etudes Cognitives - ENS-PSL - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CdF (institution) - Collège de France - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Département de Philosophie - ENS-PSL - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Northumbria University [Newcastle]
Fiorella Parra-Mujica: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Graham Stark: Northumbria University [Newcastle]
Richard Wilkinson: Northumbria University [Newcastle]
Matthew Johnson: Northumbria University [Newcastle]
Elliott Johnson: Northumbria University [Newcastle]

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: There is growing evidence of a causal relationship between income and health. At the same time, pressure on reactive health and care services in the UK is increasing. Previous work to quantify the relationship has focused on particular age groups, conditions, or single-item self-rated health. This article reports findings from a study that aimed to provide more comprehensive estimates with an objective of creating an evidential basis for microsimulation modelling of upstream income interventions. We analyse the relationship between income and two health measures – SF-12 Mental Component Summary (MCS-12) and Physical Component Summary (PCS-12) – across 12 waves (2009/11–2020/22) of Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study. Using a ‘within-between' model (Model 1), we find that increases in income compared with an individual's average and a higher income compared with the sample average is associated with better mental health (higher MCS-12 score) and better functional physical health (higher PCS-12 score). However, for a given increase in household income (say £100 per month), the association with better mental and physical health is smaller at higher incomes. This suggests that redistribution from high-income to lower income households would increase average population physical and mental health, other things being equal. Using a random-effects logistic regression (Model 2), we similarly find that average income quintile is inversely and monotonically associated with the probability of having clinically significant symptoms of depressive disorders (MCS-12 ≤ 45.6) and physical health problems (PCS-12 score ≤ 50.0), with smaller changes in these probabilities from increases in income at higher points in the income distribution. These findings facilitate microsimulation modelling including an estimation of the impact of changes in QALYs, from changes in income, enabling a more detailed and complete understanding of which socioeconomic interventions might begin to address some of the causes of long-term health conditions that are underpinned by socioeconomic determinants.

Date: 2025-03-06
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04982428v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in PLoS ONE, 2025, 20 (3), pp.e0316792. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0316792⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-04982428v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04982428

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316792

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().