Debt's Correlation with Poverty, Suffering and Unhappiness
Debt can and may be devastating. It can prevent someone from doing a lot, causing frustration, stress, and many more things that attribute to an unhappy living. Debt’s correlation with poverty, suffering and unhappiness is more than what people believe and indeed has an impact on young adult’s lives. Studies that have investigated several psychological variables show that debt may indeed be part of the issue. Studies show that debt is more common among those with lower incomes and higher outgoings. This means that typically, wealthier families are better able to afford a degree than low income families.
“These studies have examined debt, in the sense of involuntary inability to make payments which the payee expects to be made immediately, rather than credit use, which can be characterized as a postponement of payment that is agreed, indeed planned, by both borrower and lender,” (Lee).
Ever since the 20th century, debt was accepted as part of a modern consumer society and attitudes towards debt have changed radically. Since then, debt has been seen as a cultural norm and has been sustained.
Studies done at the University of Canterbury show that debt contributes to a change of attitude and financial management issues. Debt can definitely have negative effects on ones mental health. Being low income, paying back obligations such as debt may lead to money management issues due to the poor ability to distribute money properly and in good use. Those with debt are encouraged to not spend, cut down or to spend wisely on luxuries so that paying back debt is a reachable goal.
Studies done at University of Aberdeen show that lower socioeconomic backgrounds and postgraduate students have higher debt. “Students who worry about money have higher debts and perform less well than their peers in degree examinations. Some students in this subgroup were also identified by the GHQ and may have mental health problems.”
Debt contributes to mental health issues because studies found, “that many students undertake paid work to pay for their time at university and they argue that students find it difficult to juggle work and study commitments, with work usually impacting on their social life.” Atitudes towards debt definitely has an effect towards mental health. “Perceptions of their debt impact on mental health: students who perceived their anticipated graduate debt as ‘excessive’ were more likely to be anxious or depressed than students who viewed their anticipated debt as ‘manageable’,” (Cooke).
Cooke, Richard, Michael Barkham, Kerry Audin, Margaret Bradley, and John Davy. "Student Debt and Its Relation to Student Mental Health." Taylor & Francis Online. Taylor & Francis Online, 19 May 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
Kemp, Simon, and Lyn Boddington. "Student Debt, Attitudes Towards Debt, Impulsive Buying and Financial Management." Psychology.org. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 1 Dec. 1999. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
Lea, Stephen E.G. "Psychological Factors in Debt." Psychological Factors in Consumer Debt: Money Management, Economic Socialization, and Credit Use. Economic Psychology, 1 Dec. 1995. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
Ross, Sarah, Jennifer Cleland, and Mary Macleod. "Stress, Debt and Undergraduate Medical Student Performance." Online Library. Medical Education, 6 May 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.