Money, mental health and the urban-rural divide

You might live in a big city or tiny hamlet, but how can where you live affect your money and mental health?

This blog will focus on how members of our Research Community experience the urban-rural divide – and what people’s experiences can tell us about levelling up across the UK.

Where we live shapes how we live and how we spend our time. While some of us love the bustle and activity of big cities, lots of people crave the calm and quiet of the suburbs or the countryside.

Money and mental health factor into this in so many ways. There’s strong evidence showing that nature and green space have a major positive effect on our mental wellbeing. Some people with mental health problems can experience sensory overload in really busy, urban areas. 

Where we live can affect our employment opportunities and earnings, but also the quality of the services we receive and how easy they are to access. That could be financial services like bank branches, ATMs or debt advice centres; health services like your local GP or counselling; or community-based activities that offer the support and companionship people need to get through the week.

Last year, we asked people about the impact of living in a rural or an urban area had on their mental health and finances. 

Almost half of people living in a rural area (46%) said where they lived had a positive impact on their mental health. Meanwhile, less than a quarter (22%) of people in urban areas said the same.

When we asked about the impact of living in an urban or a rural area on people’s finances, the results flipped. 44% of people living in urban areas said where they live had a negative impact on their finances. However, that proportion rose to 56% among people living in rural areas.

When it comes to deciding where to live and what opportunities to pursue, people shouldn’t have to sacrifice mental wellbeing for financial stability.

We also asked people about their access to health and financial services. 

Only 22% of respondents in urban areas disagreed that where they live has financial services that they can easily access. That figure almost doubled to 41% among people in rural areas.

While it’s true that lots of services are increasingly available online, some people with mental health problems are much better off with in-person services. For example, over half of people with mental health problems (54%) experience serious difficulties using the phone when carrying out essential admin tasks. At the same time, living in a more rural area can also mean a patchier or less reliable internet connection.

It’s not just the lack of accessible services nearby that can make living in a rural area more of a challenge for people with mental health problems. It’s transport, too. In our survey, just 21% of people in rural areas agreed that their community has regular and affordable public transport, compared to 51% in urban areas.

Being reliant on a car, which can break down, or on infrequent public transport, can make some basic services much more difficult to access. Some of those services can be vital to our mental or financial wellbeing. Crucially, it can also make people feel cut off from friends, shops and community activities that enrich our lives and improve our mental health in the first place.

It’s vital that governments across the UK level up the provision and regularity of public transport. They should also broaden the categories of disabled people entitled to free or discounted travel to include more people with a diagnosed mental health problem.

Addressing the imbalances in the UK economy should be about closing the gap between regions, but also within them.

There is no levelling up without addressing barriers facing people with mental health problems.