Between packing up all of your belongings every year or so, finding a new home, and dealing with rising rent costs, it's all so much stress. It's no wonder that a new study shows that those who rent actually age faster than those who are obese or smoke.
From The New York Post:
The stresses of renting a home can age people faster than if they are obese, smoked or were unemployed, a new study indicates.
Struggling to pay rent, dealing with the hassles of moving and even the mere stigma of renting can cause tenants to age two and a half weeks faster for every year renting, according to The British Medical Journal’s Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Housing is an important factor in health, the researchers argue, and can have a greater impact on aging compared to other “social determinants” such as unemployment.
Research has shown that physical conditions of housing, like overcrowding or inadequate heating, have an impact on health, but other factors like affordability may, too.
Pollution, grime and other environmental problems can also add to the gray hairs.
More favorable housing policies, however, could turn back the hands of time and reverse the effects of biological aging, the Australian researchers noted, and those with subsidized housing do not face the same stressors as those renting privately.
The study covered a sample of 40,000 households in the U.K. and started in 1991.
Though housing in the U.K. differs from the U.S., Giselle Routhier, co-director of the Health x Housing Lab at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told the news site HealthDay that the findings come as no surprise.
Obviously, with inflation, the rising costs in rent are a significant problem. When you couple that with rising interest rates and a lack of housing inventory, the stress associated with housing increases tenfold.
Our governments need to find a solution to this problem because what they've been doing thus far doesn't seem to be helping the situation.
