What does a Swiss franc mortgage cost? The tale of Polish trust for foreign currency denominated mortgages: Implications for well-being and health

It is commonly agreed that excessive household financial debts are detrimental to psychological and physical health. Research also demonstrates that housing instability, mortgage indebtedness and mortgage foreclosure negatively influence subjective well-being. In Poland at the beginning of 2015, homeowners with Swiss franc denominated mortgages suffered from an abrupt swing in the Swiss franc/Polish zloty (CHF/PLN) exchange rate, which resulted in the considerable increase of the local currency value of their mortgages. These adverse financial circumstances were hypothesised to affect not only household finance but also negatively affect the psychological well-being and physical health of peoples. The 2013 and 2015 waves of the Polish representative household panel ‘Social Diagnosis’ were used to examine the impact on well-being and health of the abrupt change in the CHF/PLN exchange rate in Jan. 2015. Two approaches to causal inference were simultaneously applied: difference-in-differences and propensity score matching. Results showed that although impact of Swiss franc appreciation on the mortgage related financial burden was considerable, it did not affect well-being or health outcomes. Any manifestation of adverse effects was absent in the short term, which does not however preclude their long term existence.

BIALOWOLSKI Piotr;  WEZIAK-BIALOWOLSKA Dorota; 

2018-01-12

SPRINGER

JRC99912

0303-8300,   

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11205-016-1363-9,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC99912,   

10.1007/s11205-016-1363-9,