Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms

Abstract

Taxing mental health Mental equilibrium is essential for an economically productive life in both industrialized and developing countries. Accumulating evidence shows that mental ill-health and poverty tend to be traveling partners, but which is the cause? Ridley et al. reviewed the literature on natural and controlled economic experiments involving individuals living in poverty. The authors sought to resolve the mechanisms whereby poverty triggers mental illness and how mental illness compounds poverty. Their results reveal the benefits of cash support and of low-cost therapeutic interventions for those suffering from mental illness under poverty. Science , this issue p. eaay0214