Poverty and Sleep in Later Life

Economic well-being plays a key role in older adults’ life and well-being. However, relatively few studies have considered the role of poverty on sleep—a critical risk factor for physical health and mortality in later life. This study investigated the relationship between poverty and sleep using two waves of data (2009 and 2013) from Panel Study of Income Dynamics—Disability and Use of Time Supplement (DUST). Results from cross-sectional analysis showed that recent poverty was associated with longer sleep duration in 2009 and lower sleep quality rating in 2013. Further analysis on poverty history showed that both short-term and long-term poverty were associated with lower sleep quality rating. Results from longitudinal analysis also suggested that changes in poverty status were associated with decreases of sleep quality rating. Material hardship and psychological distress, however, did not explain the associations in cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. Taken together, findings from this study suggest that poverty appears to be more consequential for older adults’ sleep quality than sleep duration.