COVID-19 job and income loss and mental health: the mediating roles of financial assets and well-being and the moderating role of race/ethnicity

ABSTRACT

Prior research shows unemployment has a negative effect on mental health, yet whether this relationship is affected by financial factors is unknown. For example, having money in savings may mitigate the impact of job loss on mental health. We use structural equation modeling with data from the Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey with a nationally representative sample (N = 3,341) to examine COVID-19 related job loss and mental health as partially mediated by liquid assets and Financial Well-Being (FWB) and moderated by race and ethnicity as moderators. More than a quarter (28.34%) of participants said they experienced a job or income loss due to COVID-19, which was associated with greater psychological distress as measured by the PHQ-4. The structural model had excellent fit (RMSEA = 0.021); FWB partially mediated the relationship between job/income loss and mental health (p < .001), accounting for 49% of the total effect. However, liquid financial assets did not partially mediate this relationship. Black participants experienced very different direct and indirect effects. Social workers should assess and intervene concerning financial factors when individuals experience job loss. Job loss is different among Black individuals who face greater challenges related to structural racism yet also have greater resilience.

KEYWORDS:

• mental health
• unemployment
• COVID-19
• job loss
• financial well-being
• savings

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, whose funding made this research possible, and the participants in the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey for their time and attention in answering survey questions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis;