Debt Collection Experience and Health: Financial Access as a Moderator

Abstract

Little is known about the association between debt collection experience and physical health. Financial access, the ability to own and use financial products and services from mainstream financial institutions, may serve as a buffer on the association. Using the 2022 Financial Health Pulse data, this study explored the association among debt collection experience, financial access, and health. This study identified three classes of financial access (Investor, Working Class, and Thinly Banked) through the Latent Class Analysis and found a negative association between debt collection experience and physical health. The negative association is strongest for those with the lowest financial access. Practice, research, and policy implications for consumer finance and health practitioners are discussed.