RENTERS, insecure workers and families with minimal savings are caught in a vicious cycle of poor financial and mental health, a charity warned today.

 
The government needs to wake up to the twin problems of material insecurity and mental distress which is causing “great harm” to individual wellbeing and the economy, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said.
 
There is much to support the description of modern Britain as an “insecurity society,” the organisation said in its latest report dubbed Anxiety Nation?: Economic insecurity and mental distress in 2020s Britain.
 
The trends of a growing number of people in private rented accommodation unable to buy homes and an increasing number classed as having no savings have worsened the situation since the turn of the century.
 
Mental distress can block confidence which can cause problems with work leading to struggles with housing, debt and relationships, creating further anxiety, the report said.
 
Tom Clark, JRF Fellow and report author, said: “Too many people are caught up in a vicious cycle in which mental distress impedes confidence, leading to problems at work, which can in turn lead to issues with debt, housing and even relationships, leading to still more worry.
 
“While more analytical work is needed, what’s already clear is that the UK has big, and on many measures, growing problems with both material insecurity and mental distress, and that the two very much seem to be linked."

A government spokesperson said, “A second cost-of-living payment — worth £324 — will be paid out to over eight million people this month, complementing the £1 billion Household Support Fund. 

"And the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household around £700 over winter.
 
“Our Renters’ Reform Bill will also deliver a fairer deal for renters.”