Chen Yu-Chih, Sun Sicong
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Social Policy Institute, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Innov Aging. 2023 Jul 7;7(6):igad072. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igad072. eCollection 2023.
Financial capability, comprising financial literacy, access, and behavior, can influence an individual's ability to effectively use financial resources, thus affecting their health and well-being. However, studies have predominantly focused on financial literacy and overlooked a more comprehensive measure of financial capability and its health impacts. Furthermore, although financial capability is shaped profoundly by gender, there is limited knowledge of the role of gender in these associations.
This study investigated how gender may moderate the links between financial capability and health. The study recruited 1,109 community-dwelling adults (aged 45+) in Hong Kong to take part in an online survey employing multivariate linear and logistic regression to examine the gender differences in the associations between financial capability and physical (perceived health and mobility limitations), mental (life satisfaction and depression), and financial (retirement worry and financial satisfaction) health.
The results showed that financial access and behavior had a more significant influence on health outcomes than financial literacy. Gender differences in financial capability were identified through simple slope analyses. Financial literacy was more important for men's self-rated health and life satisfaction, whereas financial behavior was more critical for women. Additionally, although financial access was not related to retirement worry among men, it was significantly associated with lower retirement worry among women.
The findings suggest that gender-specific pathways to financial capability may lead to health disparities. Policies and programs to improve population health and well-being, particularly for women, should target financial literacy, strengthen financial inclusion, and encourage responsible financial behavior.
财务能力，包括金融知识、金融渠道和金融行为，会影响个人有效利用财务资源的能力，进而影响其健康和福祉。然而，研究主要集中在金融知识方面，而忽视了对财务能力更全面的衡量及其对健康的影响。此外，尽管财务能力深受性别因素的影响，但对于性别在这些关联中的作用，人们了解有限。
本研究调查了性别如何调节财务能力与健康之间的联系。该研究招募了1109名香港社区居住的成年人（年龄在45岁及以上）参与一项在线调查，采用多元线性和逻辑回归分析来检验财务能力与身体（感知健康和行动能力受限）、心理（生活满意度和抑郁）以及财务（退休担忧和财务满意度）健康之间关联中的性别差异。
结果表明，金融渠道和金融行为对健康结果的影响比金融知识更为显著。通过简单斜率分析确定了财务能力方面的性别差异。金融知识对男性的自评健康和生活满意度更为重要，而金融行为对女性更为关键。此外，尽管金融渠道与男性的退休担忧无关，但它与女性较低的退休担忧显著相关。
研究结果表明，性别特定的财务能力途径可能导致健康差异。改善人群健康和福祉的政策与项目，尤其是针对女性的政策与项目，应着眼于金融知识、加强金融包容性并鼓励负责任的金融行为。
