Context
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is Australia’s regulator for financial services, corporate, markets and consumer credit and works to support consumers within Australia’s financial services sector to make confident and informed decisions. The links between financial wellbeing and mental health, and the implications of these for the sector, are an emerging concern in Australia, and elsewhere. The negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the finances, health and mental health of Australians have brought these concerns into even sharper focus. It was therefore important to understand the links between money and mental health in the Australian context and draw attention nationally to the issues and reciprocal impacts between these experiences.
The study
Heartward Strategic was commissioned by ASIC and Beyond Blue (a leading health organisation in Australia) to undertake a foundational study in the Australian context which aimed to: develop a deep understanding of relationships between financial wellbeing and mental health; identify life events and characteristics that increase the risk of negative impacts; and suggest ways in which financial wellbeing and mental health can be better supported.
This iterative, mixed-methods study was undertaken between August 2020 and September 2021 and involved interpretative (‘why and how’) synthesis of evidence from several sources:
- A review of peer-reviewed and grey literature.
- Telephone and video interviews with 10 expert stakeholders, sector and consumer representatives.
- Secondary analysis of data from Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), which is a national longitudinal survey of more than 17,000 Australian residents, from 2104-2019 (i.e. pre-Covid-19).
- Primary qualitative research with adults aged 18 and over with experience of both money and mental health problems in the last 10 years, involving a short online task by 50 people drawn from an online research panel and subsequent depth telephone and video interviews with 20 of these.
- Two collaborative workshops each with 10 stakeholders from the financial and mental health sectors.
Key findings
-
Links between money and mental health: 14% of Australian adults experienced both financial hardship and mental health symptoms 2014 to 2019.
- 23% of people experiencing financial hardship in 2018-19 had symptoms indicating mental health problems (vs 10% of those not experiencing financial hardship).
- 37% of people with symptoms of mental health problems were also experiencing financial hardship (vs 18% of those without symptoms).
- The negative impacts of money and mental problems are reciprocal in influence and can accumulate over time. The positive impacts of resilience and recovery are also reciprocal.•
-
How money and mental health influence each other: Financial and mental health experiences trigger cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses which in turn have a variety of financial and mental health outcomes.
- Especially strong influences within this process are: relationships, social support and community connection; societal beliefs that promote shame and stigma; adverse life events; physical health; psychological characteristics and capabilities; and social inequity.
- Intervention by friends and family, service providers and employers provide important ‘turning points’ in people’s experiences.•
-
Opportunities for improvements with the sectors: Opportunities to build on effective activities already being undertaken in the sectors include: promoting awareness of the links; challenging stigma; taking an holistic view of people; getting into the right settings; promoting ‘connection and community’, ‘confidence and capability’, and ‘choice and security’ through the interpretive (‘why and how’) lens of the synthesis of evidence provided by the study.
Points to consider
-
Methodological strengths/weaknesses: The report provides no indication about potential biases within the recruitment of participants to the primary qualitative research or how the data were analysed to reduce further possibility of bias.
- The report provides no indication about potential biases within the recruitment of participants to the primary qualitative research or how the data were analysed to reduce further possibility of bias.•Eligibility for the qualitative research based on mental health and financial problems within the last 10 years may have led to some error or reporting due to difficulties recalling events clearly.Eligibility for the qualitative research based on mental health and financial problems within the last 10 years may have led to some error or reporting due to difficulties recalling events clearly.
