The Guardian view on insecure Britain: poverty makes people

ill
Editorial

Politicians must act on the clear connection between financial vulnerability and poor men-
tal health
Thu 10 Nov 2022 19.02 GMT Last modified on Fri 11 Nov 2022 05.36 GMT

In 2005, the then chancellor Gordon Brown launched child trust funds. Every baby born in
the UK would receive a lump sum of £250 from the government, which would be automati-
cally invested if parents did not do this themselves. The beneficiaries would be able to
withdraw these savings when they were 18. The policy was regarded as clunky by some
and was scrapped by the Conservatives in 2010. But judging from new research demon-
strating the connection between assets and wellbeing, Mr Brown’s instinct was right. Hav-
ing savings makes a huge difference to people’s lives.

The study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation identifies two trends that are worrying in
themselves – but even more so when linked together. These are financial insecurity and
mental distress, and both have risen sharply over the past decade. The jobs market is a
bright spot in an otherwise gloomy picture. But the fact that a million people are on zero-
hours contracts, combined with low benefit levels, falling home ownership and the doubling
of the private rental sector, mean that an increasing proportion of the population is chroni-
cally insecure. One-fifth of adults have savings of less than £700.

Over a similar period, levels of anxiety and depression have rocketed, to the point where
17% of adults were prescribed antidepressants in 2017-18. These cases were concen-
trated in the poorest parts of northern England, and the 64% growth in prescriptions be-
tween 2010 and 2017 outstripped increases in other European countries by large margins.
The data shows that poor mental health is far more likely to be experienced by people who
are financially vulnerable. Those stuck in precarious housing tenure, with debts, report
higher levels of symptoms including sleeplessness and feelings of worthlessness. There is
also a correlation with social isolation.

It should not surprise anyone that having no money keeps people awake at night. Reports
from around the country about rising levels of hunger become ever more disturbing and
extreme. But there are lessons here for policymakers. The risk to individuals, and the soci-
ety they live in, is that people become caught in a downward spiral, whereby poor mental
health is caused by economic insecurity, and in turn increases it by stopping them from
working. Already, two-thirds of employment support allowance claimants report anxiety or
depression. The overall cost to NHS England of mental health services is £15bn annually.

Some of this illness is preventable. Ministers must face the fact that their punitive ap-
proach to benefits, and generosity to landlords and employers, have made many lives far
harder than they need have been. The ending of section 21 evictions, whereby renters can
be kicked out at short notice for no reason, is shamefully overdue. New funding for debt
advice must be found. Employment rights need strengthening urgently. Benefits must be
uprated, and eligibility for free school meals extended to prevent even more people from
becoming trapped. In the longer term, politicians must find ways to rebalance the nation’s
wealth and assets towards those who have little or none.