Politicians must act on the clear connection between financial vulnerability and poor mental health
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 automatically 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 demonstrating the connection between assets and wellbeing, Mr Brown’s instinct was right. Having 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 chronically insecure. One-fifth of adults have savings of less than £700.
