Insights into Financial Stress among Adults: How are Financial Worries Affecting the Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults

Abstract

Click Here:Access Full Text

Adults often experience financial stress. Managing financial stress among adults is a broad-based problem that impedes the management of family and social relationships. Financial stress is defined as the uncomfortable feeling of not being able to satisfy financial obligations and afford necessities. This study is aimed at describing the relationship between financial stress and the age of the participants, and also exploring the effect of financial stress on family and social relationships among adults in the state of Kerala. Three age categories were distinguished, broadly described as the young (18 to 35), the middle-aged (36 to 55), and the older (56 and older). Data have been gathered from 345 adults in Kerala using a convenience sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise survey participants and compared using chi-square tests across the age groups. To assess the significant difference between financial stress and age, analysis of variance was used as appropriate. A general linear model of multivariate tests was used to assess the effects of financial stress on family and social relationships among the different categories of adults. The results have shown that there is a significant difference between age and financial stress among adults. It also inferred that the effect of financial stress differed statistically significantly depending on the age group of the participants. The paper provides a greater understanding of financial stress and its relationships with stages of life among adults. Finally, the research revealed that financial stress has both direct and indirect effects on adulthood life at various stages.

Keywords: Financial Stress, Financial Hardship, Adults, Family Relationship, Social Relationship

View PDF