Day-to-Day Living Expenses and Mental Health

Margareta Dackehag (), Lina Maria Ellegård, Ulf-G. Gerdtham and Therese Nilsson ()
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Margareta Dackehag: Department of Economics, Lund University, Postal: Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Box 7082, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden, https://sites.google.com/site/mdackehag

No 2016:19, Working Papers from Lund University, Department of Economics

Abstract: We use rich longitudinal survey and register data on Swedish individuals to examine the relationship between financial strain and mental health. Specifically, we consider the longitudinal relationships between payment difficulties and subjective (self-reported anxiety) as well as objective (psychiatric drug use) measures of mental ill-health. Among previously healthy individuals, payment difficulty experiences are strongly associated with self-reported mental ill-health. The association with later psychiatric drug use is weaker and differs by gender. Psychiatric drug users are on the other hand at high risk of later experiencing payment difficulties. This indicates that policy measures regarding the payment difficulties–health nexus ought to prioritize activities improving mental health.

Keywords: financial strain; mental health; stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I30 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2016-08-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2016_019

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