Málstofa í Hagfræðideild: Nancy E. Reichman, prófessor í barnalækningum og dr. Hope Corman.
Titill: Effects of Financial Insecurity on Social Interactions.
ABSTRACT: Little is known about the effects of financial insecurity on social interactions despite consistently observed wage and income effects on social capital and a growing recognition of the potential importance of income volatility in affecting emotional states and other aspects of well-being. We use data on women participating in a longitudinal study in the U.S. to investigate the effects of financial insecurity measured along two dimensions (safety nets and hardships) on social interactions (participating in community organizations and having close friends) and the potential mediating effects of mental health. We find that: (1) Having a bank account and/or credit card and the ability to get a loan increase the likelihood of participation in any organization, suggesting that individuals with greater financial buffers incur lower costs or reap greater benefits from participating in community organizations. (2) Individuals experiencing hardship are more likely to participate in community organizations, possibly because they reach out to, or receive assistance or emotional support from, organizations or their members during times of financial difficulty. (3) Having a bank account and/or a credit card increases the likelihood of having three or more close friends while experiencing material hardships has the opposite effect, suggesting that individuals who have less financial security have fewer opportunities to socialize with existing friends or acquire new friends. We found no evidence that mental health, as we have measured it, mediates the observed effects of financial insecurity on social interactions, although it has strong and negative independent associations with having three or more close friends. The findings from this study contribute to a growing literature on the effects of income volatility on individuals’ well-being and have implications for research on how social interactions affect health.
Dr. Nancy E. Reichman er prófessor í barnalækningum við Robert Wood Johnson Medical School og hefur til margra ára einnig verið gestaprófessor við Princeton University. Samhöfundur hennar, Hope Corman, prófessor við Rider University and National Bureau of Economic Research, verður einnig á staðnum.
