Predicting the financial wellbeing of autistic adults: Part I

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Cai, R. Y., Hall, G., & Pellicano, E. (2023). Predicting the financial wellbeing of autistic adults: Part I. Autism, 28(5), 1203-1215. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231196085

Journal or book title
Autism
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
28
Issue
5
Pages
1203-1215
Publication date: 4 Sep 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Ru Ying Cai
  2. Gabrielle Hall *
  3. Elizabeth Pellicano

Abstract

Many autistic adults are likely to experience poor financial wellbeing and hardship due to unemployment and under-employment. Research in the general population demonstrates that subjective financial wellbeing—how people perceive their financial situation—influences quality of life. There is no research, however, examining the subjective financial wellbeing of autistic people. This study therefore aimed to (1) understand the subjective financial wellbeing of a sample of autistic adults living in Australia compared to a general Australian population sample and (2) identify the predictors of subjective financial wellbeing in this sample of autistic adults. To this end, 191 autistic adults aged 18–83 years (mean = 39.28, standard deviation = 11.74) completed an online survey about their economic status, financial wellbeing, financial behaviors, confidence in money management skills, and anxiety and depression symptoms. Almost half of our sample felt it was a struggle to make ends meet, whereas only one-third of the general Australian population felt this way. Similar to the general population, autistic people’s income and their financial behaviors (specifically, saving and not borrowing for everyday expenses) predicted their sense of financial wellbeing. Our findings have implications for both research and practice. Lay abstract Researchers have found the way people feel about their financial situation is related to their quality of life. We know that many autistic people find it hard to find a job. And for those autistic people who have a job, they are often underpaid. Not having a job or being underpaid often means having low income. Having low income is likely to influence how autistic people feel about their financial situation. However, no research has looked at these issues for autistic people. This is the first study that helps us learn more about what autistic adults think about their financial situation. We looked at autistic people’s thoughts on this issue compared to people from the general Australian population. We also looked at what things might impact how autistic people feel about their financial situation—which might be how much money they earn, what they do with that money, and their mental health. Many autistic adults felt they were struggling with financial wellbeing and this was connected both to the level of their income and how they said they managed their money. Those who were able to save and not borrow for everyday expenses reported feeling a greater sense of financial wellbeing. Concrete changes might help to improve autistic people’s financial wellbeing. We need to investigate how we can help autistic people find and keep well-paying jobs. And we need to work out the best ways of equipping autistic people with the skills they need in financial matters.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 17:07.

Cited references
63
With a DOI
35
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
28
4 / 63 (6.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
29 / 63 (46.0%)
References with detected author names
37 / 63 (58.7%)
Without detected author names
26
Without a structured title
28
Without a stable identifier
28
References with raw author names still to review
25
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
154
From DOI or external metadata
154
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
60
65 / 154 (42.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 89 / 154 (57.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
8 / 154 (5.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 8 / 65 (12.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 8 / 137 (5.8%).
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