IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0320402.html

Relative income and its relationship with mental health in UK employees: A systematic review

Author

Listed:
  • Bethany Croak
  • Laura E Grover
  • Simon Wessely
  • Kalpa Kharicha
  • Danielle Lamb
  • Sharon AM Stevelink

Abstract

Purpose: The relative income hypothesis theorises that one’s earnings relative to others exert a greater influence on subjective wellbeing than absolute income. Understanding the relationship between relative income and mental health could contribute to employee wellbeing. This review aimed to summarise the defining features of relative income in relation to mental health and how it is measured in the literature. In addition, it aimed to explore the relationship between relative income and mental health in those currently employed in the UK. Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched using a pre-defined search strategy: PubMed (including MEDLINE and PubMed Central), PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, Global Health, JSTOR, Business Source Complete (EBSCO), ScienceDirect and Emerald. The protocol was pre-registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023408657). Quantitative and qualitative studies and grey literature, which described the defining features and measurement of relative income and its impact on mental health among UK employees, were included. Results: After screening, 13 studies were included in the review. A conceptualisation of relative income revealed that an income comparison is either researcher-defined using averages or self-assessed based on a person’s perception. Having a lower income than the reference group was commonly associated with diminished wellbeing, though moderating factors (gender, income inequality and composition of reference group) were identified. Conclusions: Having a lower income than the reference group is associated with poorer wellbeing. Implications for practice and policy are considered amidst the UK’s ‘cost of living crisis’ and ongoing pay disputes in various sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Bethany Croak & Laura E Grover & Simon Wessely & Kalpa Kharicha & Danielle Lamb & Sharon AM Stevelink, 2025. "Relative income and its relationship with mental health in UK employees: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0320402
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0320402
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0320402&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0320402?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maren Wright Voss & Cal J. Halvorsen & Kanchan Yadav & Stephanie M. Neidlinger & Gregory R. Wagner & Susan E. Peters, 2025. "Thriving from Work Questionnaire: Validation of a Measure of Worker Wellbeing Among Older U.S. Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(9), pages 1-30, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fluhrer, Svenja & Kraehnert, Kati, 2022. "Sitting in the same boat: Subjective well-being and social comparison after an extreme weather event," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    2. Rojas, Mariano, 2011. "Poverty and psychological distress in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 206-217, March.
    3. Proto, Eugenio & Rustichini, Aldo, "undated". "Life Satisfaction, Household Income and Personality Traits," Economic Research Papers 270640, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    4. Robert MacCulloch & Silvia Pezzini, 2010. "The Roles of Freedom, Growth, and Religion in the Taste for Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(2), pages 329-358, May.
    5. Yamada, Katsunori & Sato, Masayuki, 2013. "Another avenue for anatomy of income comparisons: Evidence from hypothetical choice experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 35-57.
    6. Alpizar, Francisco & Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2005. "How much do we care about absolute versus relative income and consumption?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 405-421, March.
    7. Varvarigos, Dimitrios, 2011. "Non-monotonic welfare dynamics in a growing economy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 303-312, June.
    8. Tofallis, Chris, 2020. "Which formula for national happiness?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Wolfers, Justin & Stevenson, Betsey & Sacks, Dan, 2010. "Subjective Well-Being, Income, Economic Development and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 8048, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Stefano Bartolini & Francesco Sarracino, 2021. "Happier and Sustainable. Possibilities for a post-growth society," Department of Economics University of Siena 855, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    11. Hong, Yan-Zhen & Su, Yi-Ju & Chang, Hung-Hao, 2023. "Analyzing the relationship between income and life satisfaction of Forest farm households - a behavioral economics approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    12. M. Sirgy, 2011. "Theoretical Perspectives Guiding QOL Indicator Projects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 1-22, August.
    13. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Shunsuke Managi, 2025. "Income and Subjective Well-Being: The Importance of Index Choice for Sustainable Economic Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-32, June.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/vbu6kd1s68o6r34k5bcm3iopv is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.
    16. Krzysztof Zagórski, 2011. "Income and Happiness in Time of Post-Communist Modernization," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(2), pages 331-349, November.
    17. Grace Wyshak, 2016. "Income and Subjective Well-Being: New Insights from Relatively Healthy American Women, Ages 49-79," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Rémi Yin & Anthony Lepinteur & Andrew E Clark & Conchita d'Ambrosio, 2021. "Life Satisfaction and the Human Development Index Across the World," Working Papers halshs-03174513, HAL.
    19. Drakopoulos, Stavros A., 2008. "The Concept Of Comparison Income: An Historical Perspective," MPRA Paper 8713, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Lichner, Ivan & Lyócsa, Štefan & Výrostová, Eva, 2022. "Nominal and discretionary household income convergence: The effect of a crisis in a small open economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 18-31.
    21. Lucia Reisch & Clive L Spash & Sabine Bietz, 2008. "Sustainable Consumption and Mass Communication: A German Experiment," Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series 2008-12, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0320402. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.