How to prevent money stress causing poor mental health in your kids

June 20, 2026 — 5:00am

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Psychologists talk of increased presentations of children suffering with eco-anxiety – of course, that’s them worrying about the environment and their future. But with money and shares as they are now, and with all the negative talk about housing affordability and capital gains tax changes, I’m increasingly worried about our younger Aussies developing economic anxiety.

Indeed, when I go to schools to give my Smart Money Start financial literacy presentations I’ve never seen such despondency and, concerningly, disengagement among graduating high school students about their financial futures.

And last week, the link between money problems and poor mental health – for people of all ages – was officially made.

An Ecstra-commissioned report, Australia’s financial wellbeing: an integrated approach, concluded that financial wellbeing intersects with other forms of wellbeing – including psychological – in a complex way. It does not exist in isolation.

The analysis highlighted that money problems feel like loss of empowerment, agency and control, which can manifest in mental health issues.

What’s more, at the report’s launch, Beyond Blue’s Irene Verins gave a sobering insight: money issues and mental health impact each other in a bidirectional way. They can be the cause but also effect.

For both eco and economic anxiety, psychologists say the solutions lie in redressing – or at least managing – those feeling of loss of empowerment, agency........

© The Age