MONEY, THE MOTHER OF ALL PROBLEMS: THE FRAGILE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL STRUGGLES AND MATERNAL HEALTH STATUS

Abstract

Much of the economic research regarding impacts of low-income living on maternal health have left room for a more in-depth investigation of the effects of financial struggles specifically, a gap in which this paper aims to fill. This paper explores the relationship between prevalent financial hardships, namely those related to food, housing, bills, and medical care, and their resulting effect on suboptimal maternal physical health as well as maternal depression. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), I utilize ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates, probit marginal effects, and individual fixed effects models. My findings are that financial struggles in relation to receiving adequate medical care are most detrimental to maternal physical health, while struggles related to securing adequate food seem to be a leading cause of maternal depression among the hardships used in this paper. The positive associations between financial hardships and suboptimal maternal health found in this paper suggest the importance of food security and medical care for the health of low-income mothers providing for children. Future research could explore how this relationship changes among subgroups of mothers such as those by age or education status.