One of the major causes of the stress that undermines mental health is financial worry.
It’s easy for employees to think the only solution to money worries is more money. But, often severe worry is caused by concern about unexpected expenses or sudden loss of income – which employers can help to address.
The 2018 Money & Mental Health Policy Institute report highlights this issue. Among survey respondents who had an extended period of sickness absence, three quarters reported their household income fell. And two thirds of these respondents saw their income fall by 50% or more.6
5 Research conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Aviva in May 2018. Survey respondents included 2,497 UK adults aged 16-75 6 Too ill to work, too broke not to - Money & Mental Health Policy Institute November 2018
Equally, not all employees have made financial arrangements to optimise the income they have. Faced with the potential expense of professional advice, or distrust of financial organisations, they may now be increasingly receptive to getting help from their employer – including access to financial education.
“It’s easy to overestimate your employees’ familiarity with financial products and services. Even at Aviva – a financial services provider – we’ve been surprised how many of our employees have lacked confidence when making financial decisions, and how much they’ve benefited from access to financial education and support” - Debbie Bullock, Aviva UK Wellbeing Lead
