The cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all and our mental health.
Financial stress increases people's risk of poor mental health. Almost one third of adults (31%) felt anxious in the last month due to their financial situation, according to our recent survey (November 2023).
Find out more about what you can do to protect your mental, emotional and physical health during the cost-of-living crisis and how you can help support others.
Cost-of-living crisis is still causing widespread mental distress, new data shows.
Almost one third of adults (31%) in the UK felt anxious in the last month due to their financial situation. That’s what our recent poll in November 2023 has told us. It also tells us that more than one quarter (27%) felt stressed and almost one in ten (9%) felt hopeless.
This shows that things haven’t improved since our last report in November 2022. We’ve been living with the cost-of-living crisis for more than a year, and people continue to struggle with essential living costs and the mental health impact of money worries. This is particularly worrying as we know that if people feel anxious or stressed over a long period of time, it’s more likely they will develop more severe mental health problems.
We need our government to take more action to lessen the financial pressure people are experiencing, to prevent them from developing poor mental health. We also need government to make sure their decisions benefit people’s mental health, especially those most at risk of financial strain.
Three ways to look after your mental health during the cost-of-living crisis
OPEN perspectives on the cost-of-living crisis
Getting support
Mental health and the cost-of-living crisis report: another pandemic in the making?
Our report gives an overview of the current and likely effects the cost-of-living crisis has on people’s mental health. We cannot ignore the potentially devastating impact the cost-of-living crisis has on mental health.
Read the report
It's important to keep doing the things that are good for our mental health
Our research has shown that during the cost-of-living crisis people are doing less of the things that are good for our mental health.
These statistics are from our November 2023 survey.
Keeping moving, getting a good night's sleep and protecting our relationships are all important to us staying mental healthy. Check out these ways to help yourself.
How to sleep better
Nurturing our relationships during challenging times
How to look after your mental health using exercise
Related content
- Tips to look after your mental health during scary world events
- Talking to children about scary world events
- Coping with scary world events if you already have mental health problems
- Looking after your mental health: a guide for young people
- An open letter to the Prime Minister about the cost-of-living crisis
- Finance, housing and unemployment worries
- Blog: The cost of living and mental health
Share your experience of the cost-of-living crisis
Most of us are finding it hard to cope with the cost-of-living emergency. We’d like to know how you are coping (or not) and your day-to-day experiences. You might also have some tips and advice that you’d like to share with others.
Explore our mental health A-Z
Learn more about things that can have an effect on our mental health during the cost-of-living crisis, such as housing, debt, work-life balance, stress and much more.
Explore all our A-Z topics