Relationship between payment problems and health: A nation-wide register study in Norway

Abstract

Previous studies have found a solid correlation between payment problems and health, and a large body of literature has recognised the impact of debt burden on ill health. However, few have looked at the reversed causality—the impact of health on over-indebtedness and payment problems. In this article, we investigate whether or not a person with mental and physical health challenges is more likely to experience debt enforce- ment, and we take a step further to explore the role of health status on receiving debt settlement for those with severe payment problems. The article uses register data from Statistics Norway, the Norwegian Patient Registry and the Mortgages Registry from 2009 to 2018. When using conditional logistic models and fixed-effects Poisson regressions with a one-year lagged effect, we find that mental disorders significantly contribute to individuals’ financial strains, while physical health does not play a substantial role. When integrating the models with dynamic health effects, all health indica- tors turned out to have substantial impacts, indicating an extended delayed physical health effect on finan- cial outcomes. Poor health leads to increased payment problems, yet individuals facing health challenges have a lower likelihood of receiving necessary assistance in debt settlement. These findings emphasise the need for tailored services to address the financial challenges of debtors with diverse health conditions.