Structural
Whose assets? The relation between individual and household level income and savings with mental health Catherine Ettman* Catherine Ettman Emma Dewhurst Ben Thornburg Brian Castrucci Sandro Galea
A growing literature has established a link between financial assets (e.g. income and savings) and mental health. However, it is unclear whether the mental health benefits of financial assets differ across personal versus household ownership of the asset. Using four waves of the nationally representative COVID-19 and Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well-being (CLIMB) survey collected in Spring 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (n=1,271 participants), we estimated the odds of elevated symptoms of depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) across individual and household level income and savings in separate and pooled models with time fixed effects, clustering standard errors at the individual level to account for repeated measures over time. Post-stratification weights were constructed for this sample such that estimates are consistent with nationally representative statistics from the Current Population Survey. All models adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, sex, education and employment status, and geographic region. Having personal savings below the median category ($10,000-$14,999) was associated with 1.76 times the odds of depression (95% CI: 1.19, 2.59; p = 0.005), and 1.53 times the odds of anxiety (95% CI: 1.01, 2.32, p = 0.045) relative to having $15,000 or over in savings. Having personal annual income below the sample median category ($35,000-$44,999) was associated with 1.67 times the odds of depression (95% CI: 1.23, 2.28; p = 0.001), and 1.75 times the odds of anxiety (95% CI: 1.24, 2.47, p = 0.001) relative to having $45,000 or over in income. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic status, personal-level financial assets were significantly associated with mental health but household-level assets were not. The mechanisms by which savings and income protect mental health may differ, informing different potential policy interventions to address well-being. It is possible that focusing interventions on the individual, rather than the household, may be a more direct way to address the mental health risks associated with having fewer financial assets.