Canadian Consumer Financial Vulnerability, Stress, and Well-Being

Abstract

This paper argues that experiential indicators of financial vulnerability permit a more robust understanding of financial vulnerability than do the common measures assessing only Canadian household indebtedness. Results from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's 2018 Financial Wellbeing Survey suggest financial vulnerability is multi-dimensional with strong links to low income and adverse shocks to income and expenditures. Important variations in other potential drivers are apparent including that some people who are financially vulnerable in objective dimensions do not report feeling stressed and vice versa. We conclude that such a nuanced representation of financial vulnerability holds considerable promise for fully assessing policy effectiveness and inspiring better-informed interventions.