Population Health
May 8, 2018
Use of fringe loans linked to poor health
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health and the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance recently published a first-of-its-kind study showing that fringe loan services may cost poor and working class Americans not only their finances, but also their health.
Their research notes that people who use fringe loan services and those who do not have access to a bank account were 38 percent and 17 percent more likely, respectively, to self-report having poor or fair health than those who do not use fringe services or who have access to a bank account.
These findings have implications for areas such as the social safety net and other social policies.