Income trajectories and self-rated health status in the UK

Income loss and subsequent poor psychological well-being among the Chinese population during the early COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had major ramifications for health and the economy at both the individual and collective levels. This study examined exogenous negative changes in household income and their implications on psychological well-being (PWB) among the Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the early China COVID-19 Survey, a cross-sectional anonymous online survey administered to the general population in China. Self-reported PWB was measured using a 5-point Likert scale with five questions related to the participants' recent psychological state. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was employed to examine whether income loss during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with poor psychological health.

RESULTS

This study included 8,428 adults, of which 90% had suffered from a moderate or severe loss of household income due to the early COVID-19 pandemic. Those who had experienced moderate or severe loss of income scored significantly lower on psychological well-being than those who did not experience income loss (19.96 or 18.07 vs. 21.46; P < 0.001); after controlling for confounders, income loss was negatively associated with PWB scores (moderate income loss: B = - 0.603, P < 0.001; severe income loss: B = - 1.261, P < 0.001). An interaction effect existed between the degree of income loss and pre-pandemic income groups. Specifically, participants in the middle-income group who had suffered severe income loss scored the lowest on PWB (B = - 1.529, P < 0.001). There was also a main effect on income loss, such that participants with varying degrees of income loss differed across five dimensions, including anhedonia, sleep problems, irritability or anger, difficulty with concentration, and repeated disturbing dreams related to COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS

Income loss during the pandemic has had detrimental consequences on psychological well-being, and the magnitude of the impact of income loss on psychological well-being varied according to previous income levels. Future policy efforts should be directed toward improving the psychological well-being of the economically vulnerable and helping them recover from lost income in the shortest time possible.

Understanding the relationship between income and mental health among 16- to 24-year-olds: Analysis of 10 waves (2009-2020) of Understanding Society to enable modelling of income interventions

A substantial body of evidence suggests that young people, including those at the crucial transition points between 16 and 24, now face severe mental health challenges. In this article, we analyse data from 10 waves of a major UK longitudinal household cohort study, Understanding Society, to examine the relationship between income and anxiety and depression among 16- to 24-year-olds. Using random effects logistic regression (Model 1) allowing for whether the individual was depressed in the previous period as well as sex, age, ethnicity, whether the individual was born in the UK, region, rurality, highest qualification, marital status, employment status and attrition, we find a significant and inversely monotonic adjusted association between average net equivalised household income quintiles and clinical threshold levels of depressive symptoms SF-12 Mental Component Summary (MCS score ≤45.6). This means that being in a higher income group is associated with a reduced likelihood of clinically significant depressive symptoms, allowing for observable confounding variables. Using a 'within-between' model (Model 2), we find that apart from among those with the very highest incomes, increases in average net equivalised household income over the course of childhood and adolescence are significantly associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by a higher SF-12 MCS score. Compared with previous reviews, the data presented here provides an estimate of the magnitude of effect that helps facilitate microsimulation modelling of impact on anxiety and depression from changes in socioeconomic circumstances. This enables a more detailed and complete understanding of the types of socioeconomic intervention that might begin to address some of the causes of youth mental health problems.