Thread: Does increasing incomes improve mental health?
Intriguing Q and we now have some good research to answer it.
Interested? Read below.
Some of the findings will surprise you!..
#WMHD2021
1/n
Intriguing Q and we now have some good research to answer it.
Interested? Read below.
Some of the findings will surprise you!..
#WMHD2021
1/n
In 1999, UK Govt implemented a minimum wage law ↑sing wages to £3.5/hr. This created 3 groups.
1. Whose wages ↑sed
2. Group whose wages did not increase bcoz were 100-110% of the eligibility threshold
3. Group whose firms did not increase their wages to meet eligibility..2/n
1. Whose wages ↑sed
2. Group whose wages did not increase bcoz were 100-110% of the eligibility threshold
3. Group whose firms did not increase their wages to meet eligibility..2/n
So this created a natural policy experiment for researchers to study the impact of minimum wage on #Mentalhealth
They assessed mental health using the GHQ-12, a standardized & well validated assessment questionnaire.
What did they find? ..3/n
They assessed mental health using the GHQ-12, a standardized & well validated assessment questionnaire.
What did they find? ..3/n
The group whose wages ↑sed had a lower probability of mental ill health compared to both control groups.
Expected, you might be thinking now.
But then it gets really interesting..4/n
Expected, you might be thinking now.
But then it gets really interesting..4/n
"This improvement represents 0.37 of a standard deviation, comparable with the effects of anti-depressants (0.39 of standard deviation) on depressive symptoms" wrote the researchers.
Do you realise the importance of this finding? I had a WOW moment!!...5/n
Do you realise the importance of this finding? I had a WOW moment!!...5/n
The researchers concluded that ↑sing wages significantly improves mental health by ↓financial strain on low wage workers.
Now apply this finding to gig workers - app delivery folks, ASHA workers etc...6/n
Now apply this finding to gig workers - app delivery folks, ASHA workers etc...6/n
Before you say, ah but this is from a high income country, there is similar data from Dominican Republic (low income country) evaluating the impact of living wage intervention in textile workers. Workers who got a living wage had 47% reduced risk of clinically significant ...8/n
levels of depressive symptoms compared to workers in factories who did not get the living wage (control group). Here is link to this paper:
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/8/e0…
9/n
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/8/e0…
9/n
So:
A living minimum wage is as effective as anti-depressants on depressive symptoms.
Another eg how social inequalities are the cause of mental health problems.
When are we going to address these fundamental causes of mental illness, rather than just dish out pills? END.
A living minimum wage is as effective as anti-depressants on depressive symptoms.
Another eg how social inequalities are the cause of mental health problems.
When are we going to address these fundamental causes of mental illness, rather than just dish out pills? END.
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