Poor mental health doubled likelihood of experiencing financial hardship during pandemic

Worried senior man sitting alone in his home - Up to one in five adults with a history of poor mental health reported they were 'much worse off' financially a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to one in ten of those who had never had psychological problems in adulthood, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, which looked at the experiences of people in their 50s and 60s living in Great Britain, found that around 20% had high levels of mental ill health throughout adulthood, and it was this group that tended to be the most likely to experience financial problems during the pandemic. However, even adults who had not experienced symptoms of mental ill health in decades were up to one and a half times as likely to say they faced worsening financial circumstances, compared to their peers who had never had psychological difficulties. Lead author, Dr Vanessa Moulton (UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies) said: "The COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately affected the livelihoods and financial circumstances of adults with persistent mental health problems. However, those who had experienced symptoms of psychological distress more than 20 years ago also remained more susceptible to the economic shockwaves of the pandemic than those who never had mental health problems. This new study puts into focus the long-lasting impact poor mental health can have, and how abrupt economic events can heighten earlier vulnerabilities." Published today in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology , the study examines data from more than 14,000 adults born across England, Scotland and Wales in 1970 and 1958, who are being followed by the 1970 British Cohort Study and the 1958 National Child Development Study respectively.