Rising inflation hits women hardest, experts say

Anxiety over inflation impacts everyone but women may feel it more acutely, as Marketwatch reported. A combination of factors, including a gender imbalance in household duties and pandemic-induced financial insecurity driven by rising childcare costs, are impacting women’s mental wellbeing and, in turn, the children they care for.

“There is a clear link between people experiencing financial stress and having poor mental health,” said Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a family physician at One Medical based in Phoenix, Ariz., as Marketwatch reported. Bhuyan works with lower-income communities and among her clients, mental health is a key issue, she said.

The deepening mental health crisis may be caused by many factors, she added, including social isolation and work pressure. Financial insecurity, triggered by 40-year-high inflation, is also fueling more tension.

“I’ve had patients who feel angry, depressed, anxious, or fearful about their finances,” Bhuyan said. “It’s often triggered when they have to pay their rent, when they get a bill, when they are thinking about their groceries, when they are thinking about gas prices, or even when they open and look at their bank account.”

The consumer price index rose 8.6% on the year in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but workers’ wages have not kept pace. They have risen by just 5.2% over the past year. Groceries are also more expensive now.

Inflation-induced anxiety has the potential to affect all people, but because women do most of the grocery shopping for their households, they are more likely to perceive prices to be higher, according to a research paper published last year by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal.