Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization
Household debt has dramatically increased in the United States in the past four decades, notwithstanding a temporary reprieve during the Covid-19 Pandemic. While debt has expanded across social groups, low-income individuals are most negatively impacted, taking on high-cost debt that they struggle t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | SSM - Mental Health |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560324000689 |
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| author | Annie Harper Tommaso Bardelli Katherine Kwok |
| author_facet | Annie Harper Tommaso Bardelli Katherine Kwok |
| author_sort | Annie Harper |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Household debt has dramatically increased in the United States in the past four decades, notwithstanding a temporary reprieve during the Covid-19 Pandemic. While debt has expanded across social groups, low-income individuals are most negatively impacted, taking on high-cost debt that they struggle to repay, often simply to meet basic needs. This article explores indebtedness among low- and moderate-income US households, and its association with physical and mental health. While most existing studies explore health effects of specific debt types, or monetary value of total debt, our research proposes a categorization of debt into three types (potential wealth-building, problem short-term, and non-loan debt) that is more meaningful in health research and addresses the experience of managing multiple and intersecting debts, common among low-income households. Using mixed methods, we show how these debts are experienced by debtors, resulting in them feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed, ultimately taking a toll on both their physical and mental health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7fa86338c5564d8d80cd32f5e5487c2c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-5603 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM - Mental Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-7fa86338c5564d8d80cd32f5e5487c2c2025-08-20T01:59:35ZengElsevierSSM - Mental Health2666-56032024-12-01610036310.1016/j.ssmmh.2024.100363Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financializationAnnie Harper0Tommaso Bardelli1Katherine Kwok2Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH), Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, 300 George st, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Corresponding author.Justice Initiatives.Ithaka S+R.One Liberty Plaza, 165 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY, USA, 10006Institute for Research on Poverty and Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, 3412 William H. Sewell Social Sciences Building, Madison, WI, 53706-1320, USAHousehold debt has dramatically increased in the United States in the past four decades, notwithstanding a temporary reprieve during the Covid-19 Pandemic. While debt has expanded across social groups, low-income individuals are most negatively impacted, taking on high-cost debt that they struggle to repay, often simply to meet basic needs. This article explores indebtedness among low- and moderate-income US households, and its association with physical and mental health. While most existing studies explore health effects of specific debt types, or monetary value of total debt, our research proposes a categorization of debt into three types (potential wealth-building, problem short-term, and non-loan debt) that is more meaningful in health research and addresses the experience of managing multiple and intersecting debts, common among low-income households. Using mixed methods, we show how these debts are experienced by debtors, resulting in them feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed, ultimately taking a toll on both their physical and mental health.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560324000689 |
| spellingShingle | Annie Harper Tommaso Bardelli Katherine Kwok Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization SSM - Mental Health |
| title | Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization |
| title_full | Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization |
| title_fullStr | Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization |
| title_full_unstemmed | Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization |
| title_short | Juggling to stay afloat: Debt and health under financialization |
| title_sort | juggling to stay afloat debt and health under financialization |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560324000689 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT annieharper jugglingtostayafloatdebtandhealthunderfinancialization AT tommasobardelli jugglingtostayafloatdebtandhealthunderfinancialization AT katherinekwok jugglingtostayafloatdebtandhealthunderfinancialization |