Wealth is health: the relationship between household income, physical health and mental wellbeing in South Africa

Leon, Nicholas

Wealth is health: the relationship between household income, physical health and mental wellbeing in South Africa

Thesis / Dissertation

2025

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Organisational Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Commerce

Abstract

Healthier employees contribute to greater productivity at the individual, but also organisational level as healthier employees tend to be more productive, less frequently absent from work and more socially engaged. Organisations should thus have an interest in promoting their employees' mental and physical health. One contributor to health are the financial means which an individual has available to support their health. Through the remuneration provided, employers have a direct influence over this variable. To assess in how far remuneration relates to physical and mental health in the current South African working population and if so, what income would be required to sustain good health, this dissertation investigated the relationship between household income, physical health and mental wellbeing. Using secondary data from the South African Research Chair Initiative's (SARChI) National Living Wage Study, this study examined whether and how household income is associated with an individual's perceived ability to maintain physical health and mental wellbeing as well as individuals' self-rated physical health. Guided by the absolute income hypothesis, which suggests that higher income leads to greater health, the study employed a cross-sectional, quantitative and descriptive design with a sample size of N = 1,665 participants across South Africa's nine provinces who provided survey data between November 2023 and January 2024. Statistical analyses revealed a significant relationship between household income and the three health indicators, demonstrating that higher household income was associated with a better perceived ability to maintain physical health and mental wellbeing alongside better self-rated physical health. A key contribution of this research is the identification of a household income threshold (ZAR 11,850) required for individuals to sustain their physical health and mental wellbeing. Given the documented relationship between employee health and organisational performance, this income threshold provides actionable insights for organisations aiming to improve employee health and organisational performance. By identifying this income threshold, this study contributes a novel insight into the income-health literature, offering a practical foundation for fostering healthier workplaces and better-performing organisations.

Keywords

Health

Household income

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