Journal article
Housing affordability stress and mental health: The role of financial wellbeing
F Botha, R Bentley, A Li, I Wiesel
Australian Economic Papers | Wiley | Published : 2024
Abstract
Using data from wave 20 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, we provide a descriptive examination of the relationship between housing affordability stress (HAS) and a multi-item measure of financial wellbeing across tenure types and test whether good financial wellbeing is protective of the negative mental health effects of HAS. We find that HAS is associated with lower financial wellbeing and that this is differentially distributed by tenure, with renters who experience HAS reporting, on average, lower financial wellbeing than owners. This suggests that HAS, which focuses on income to define housing stress, is different to financial wellbeing. Being in control o..
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Awarded by Australian Government
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments and suggestions. This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Project ID CE200100025) and by a Hallmark Research Initiative for Affordable Housing (HRIAH) Grant from the University of Melbourne. This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey conducted by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Australian Government, DSS, or any of DSS' contractors or partners. DOI: 10.26193/YP7MNU. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.