Physical and mental health and financial wellbeing: a rapid evidence review

For the review of physical health and financial wellbeing, the authors examined the relationship across individual characteristics and in the context of the life course, from birth to death, as well as different health conditions. 

Physical health typically declines with age, but financial wellbeing patterns vary among different groups. The intersectional life course approach aimed to understand how health and financial wellbeing interact at different life stages and compound over time.

To undertake the review of mental health and financial wellbeing, the authors explored the relationship across individual characteristics and life experiences, as well as across different mental disorders and illnesses. Building on earlier work, the review reinforced the inter-related nature of mental health problems and financial difficulties, often described as a vicious cycle. 

The evidence demonstrates three major dynamics of the relationship between physical health and financial wellbeing.

1. The socio-economic context of health inequalities: Echoing established findings, health is shaped by the socio-economic context, as those with lower socio-economic status are more likely to experience poor health and to have shorter lifespans, due to poverty and deprivation at the household and local area level.
2. How physical health affects financial wellbeing: Physical health affects financial wellbeing primarily by the burden of direct and indirect costs associated with experiencing poor health.
3. How financial wellbeing affects physical health: Financial challenges affect physical health through increased stress or experiences of uncertainty such as insecurity of employment, income or housing), limiting opportunities for health-supporting behaviours like eating well and exercising, and encouraging health-limiting and costly behaviours like smoking and drinking.

The review found only limited evidence regarding the impact of interventions, which tended to be small-scale and sometimes lacking in rigour.

1. Evidence confirms the existence of the relationship between money and mental health. People who experience mental health issues are particularly susceptible to experiencing financial difficulties – and people in financial difficulty often also experience challenges to their mental health. 
2. The COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living situation have exacerbated both the mental health and personal or household finance challenges faced by many people in the UK.
3. Continuing patterns identified before 2018, more recent evidence highlights how some groups are particularly exposed to the co-incidence of mental health and financial challenges e.g. those with disabilities, women, and minoritised groups.

The findings from the physical health review suggest a need for societal-level investment to alleviate health inequalities, such as improving housing and working conditions, increasing access to green spaces and reducing pollution.

The relationship between mental health and financial wellbeing is complex and not fully understood. Recent evidence has not clarified this much further, but does suggest that structural factors like employment, productivity, and healthcare costs, as well as social and cultural attitudes, including stigma, all play a role in our understanding.