More than four in five professionals say late payments from prime contractors have affected their mental health, according to Construction news‘paid survey.
The figure is revealed today in the results of a large survey carried out by CN of construction subcontractors’ experiences with retention and payment practices.
The survey, which received 217 responses, highlights an “aggressive” culture around payments, with many respondents saying they struggle to get paid.
“Constant worry about payment speed and payment amount has a significant impact, and not only for me, my family can also feel the pressure I am under,” says one of the respondents.
Another writes: “Stress, anxiety and fear assault my life daily. The whole construction industry is a depressing and tough industry […] It offers very little reward, only bitterness and injustice.”
In written responses to a question about mental health, 66 respondents (30%) admit that payment problems have caused stress, while 21 (10%) describe suffering sleepless nights.
Others say the problem has caused “worry”, “anxiety”, “depression” and “high blood pressure”.
Sarah Bolton, chief operating officer of construction mental health charity Lighthouse, said 37% of people who contact the charity cite financial need as the main reason for contacting them.
He said the charity “can’t directly correlate this” with the slow payment, but says there is no doubt that financial worries go “hand in hand with emotional pressures and strains that can affect mental wellbeing” .
About 32 written responses (15%) recognize cases of rescuing their own company to pay employees or suppliers, either by giving up their own wages (sometimes for months) or by using family savings or their pension.
Mark Reynolds, CEO of Mace and co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council, said CN he wasn’t surprised by the high proportion of subcontractors who say late payment has affected their health, adding that there’s an obvious reason why it’s an under-discussed topic.
“The people who really suffer from this are employers because they care about their workforce,” he says.
“And they don’t share [their woes] With no one; a cash flow problem is not something you talk about because the first thing people will do is stop paying you in cash.”
Check out an in-depth analysis of the CN 2023 Subcontractor Payment and Withholding Survey.
