The Impact of Financial Stress on Workplace Harassment and Discrimination

I study the impact of financial stress on the incidence of harassment and discrimination using Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) charges brought forward by United States Postal Service workers. An analysis of more than 800,000 EEO charges filed between 2004 and 2019 demonstrates that financial stress experienced in the second week of the pay cycle increases EEO incidents by about 5 percent compared with the first week. Further analyses suggest that the uncovered effects are driven by changes in the number of incidents rather than in their reporting.