Hull York Medical School, York, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2023 Nov 29;18(11):e0295064. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295064. eCollection 2023.
There is growing recognition that the public health measures employed to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic had unintended consequences on socioeconomic security and health inequalities, having the greatest impact on the most vulnerable groups. This longitudinal study aims to explore the medium to long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health measures on financial security for families living in the deprived and ethnically diverse city of Bradford. We collected data at four time points before and during the pandemic from mothers who participated in one of two prospective birth cohort studies in Bradford. The findings demonstrate that the risk of experiencing financial insecurity rose sharply during the pandemic and has not returned to pre-COVID-19 baseline levels. Several individual characteristics were found to be possible predictors of financial insecurity, including homeowner status, free school meal eligibility and not working. Protective factors against financial insecurity include: living in more affluent areas; greater levels of educational attainment; and families with two or more adults in the household. Notably, families of Pakistani Heritage were found to have the greatest risk of experiencing financial insecurity throughout the pandemic. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that there were strong associations between financial insecurity and maternal health and wellbeing outcomes, with mothers experiencing financial insecurity being more likely to report unsatisfactory general health and clinically important symptoms of depression and anxiety. The findings of this study highlight that the impact of financial insecurity experienced by mothers and their families throughout the pandemic was severe, wide ranging and affected the most vulnerable. In the wake of the pandemic, the emerging cost of living and energy crisis emphasises the urgent need for policy makers to act to support vulnerable families to prevent further widening of existing health and social inequalities.
人们越来越认识到，为控制 COVID-19 大流行而采取的公共卫生措施对社会经济安全和健康不平等产生了意想不到的后果，对最弱势群体的影响最大。这项纵向研究旨在探讨 COVID-19 大流行及随后的公共卫生措施对居住在贫困和族裔多样化的布拉德福德市的家庭的财务安全的中长期影响。我们在大流行之前和期间的四个时间点从参加布拉德福德的两个前瞻性出生队列研究之一的母亲那里收集了数据。研究结果表明，在大流行期间，经历财务不安全的风险急剧上升，尚未恢复到 COVID-19 之前的基线水平。发现几个个体特征可能是财务不安全的预测因素，包括房主身份、免费校餐资格和不工作。财务不安全的保护因素包括：居住在较富裕的地区；更高水平的教育程度；以及家庭中有两个或更多成年人。值得注意的是，有巴基斯坦血统的家庭在整个大流行期间被发现面临最大的财务不安全风险。此外，这项研究表明，财务不安全与母婴健康和幸福感结果之间存在很强的关联，经历财务不安全的母亲更有可能报告一般健康状况不佳和临床重要的抑郁和焦虑症状。这项研究的结果强调了母亲及其家庭在整个大流行期间经历的财务不安全的严重程度、广泛程度以及对最脆弱群体的影响。在大流行之后，生活成本和能源危机的出现突显了政策制定者采取行动支持弱势家庭以防止现有健康和社会不平等进一步扩大的迫切需要。
