Perceived racial discrimination over the life course and financial stress

Abstract Purpose To quantify the associations between perceived racial discrimination over the life course and financial stress. Methods The data are from the 2023 Survey of Racism and Public Health, a cross-sectional survey of adults. We employed mixed-effects linear models with zip code-level random effects adjusted for covariates. Results There were 4952 participants, with an average age of 46.8 years. The participants identified as follows: 2366 (48%) as White, 865 (17%) as Black, and 711 (14%) as Hispanic. The overall average financial stress index score was 40.1 (SD = 11.6); multiracial participants reported the highest average financial stress score, at 44.2 (SD = 12.3). On average, Black participants reported the highest perceived discrimination scores across the life course: child and teen (mean = 2.5, SD = 1.1), adult (mean = 2.6, SD = 1.1), and past year (mean = 2.2, SD = 1.1). Higher perceived discrimination was associated with financial stress in each window, and adulthood (b = 2.6, 95% CI 2.3, 2.9) has a larger association magnitude than in childhood (b = 2.2, 95% CI 2.0, 2.5) and the past year (b = 2.3, 95% CI 2.0, 2.6). Conclusions These findings suggest that perceived discrimination at all life stages is associated with financial stress, and its effects during adulthood may appear slightly larger compared to those during childhood and the past year.