MEDIATING EFFECTS OF ASSETS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POOR HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD OUTCOMES

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the mediating effects of assets on the relationship between poor health and livelihood outcomes among low-income individuals in Singapore. Data for the paper is extracted from a one-time survey on low-income households with debt conducted by the Social Service Research Center of National University of Singapore. The data analysis is based on a stepwise regression on a sample size of 474 respondents. Adapted from a model by Russell (2008), we study the vulnerability or resilience of poor health, as influenced by various assets in the form of human, physical, financial and social capital (McIntyre & Thiede, 2008). Four measures of livelihood outcomes are used: employment, household income, anxiety and life satisfaction. The four types of capital are represented by education level, housing type, total household arrears and social support. The findings show no mediating effects of assets on livelihood outcomes, except in 2 cases. Firstly, even though respondents in poor health are likely to be unemployed, those in poor health and have household arrears are even more likely to be unemployed. Recommendations have been made for more attention to be placed on the low-income population with household arrears, targeting debt assistance or debt relief programmes. Secondly, the findings show that poor health act as a negative mediating variable in the relationship between homeownership and life satisfaction. Homeowners in poor health reported poorer life satisfaction that homeowners who are healthy. The assumption that homeownership are necessary beneficial for the low-income population becomes questionable. A homeownership-rental hybrid scheme has been proposed, ensuring the benefits of both stability of homeownership and flexibility of rental housing arrangements. The paper challenges the principles of social policy planning, introducing new perspectives towards designing social policies for the vulnerable population. The compounding effects of poor health and household arrears from this thesis suggest the need for more holistic policy approaches that integrate health, social welfare, debt management and housing schemes.