The recession, austerity measures and health - new research

Our new qualitative research study,conducted with 25 households from across Glasgow, reveals worrying effects of financial difficulties associated with the economic crisis and austerity measures on health and wellbeing.

The findings add further evidence to the realities of the ‘cost of living crisis’ being experienced both by people who rely solely on benefits and those in employment. Some parents reported having missed meals to ensure their children were provided for, others reported unintentional weight loss as a result of cuts to household budgets. The research also found a number of people resorting to bankruptcy as the only way out of mounting debts and associated stress.

The research was conducted between April to June 2014 as part of the our research and learning programme. It involved in-depth interviews with households deemed to be particularly ‘at risk’, who had reported increased financial difficulties in the 2011 GoWell community health and wellbeing survey. The households were drawn from areas within the city expected to be most affected by welfare reforms. They included a wide range of circumstances including households with disabilities; households with and without children, two-parent and single-parent families, and part-time or zero-hours workers. The majority were social sector tenants.

Download the full press release, issued on 15th October 2014.