The top financial wellbeing risks – research

Parenting, caring, housing costs and poor mental health create people risks for employers, according to the findings of the Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) Financial Wellbeing Research 2024.

The high cost of housing, from rent and energy bills, through to getting onto the property ladder, is creating stress in the workforce. Working parents and carers in particular face higher financial burdens.

Financial wellbeing may often play second fiddle to other health and wellbeing areas, yet its potential impact on employees cannot be ignored. Employers have long known that external factors play a role in employees’ overall health and wellbeing. And yet, the impact of the pandemic, followed by sustained rises in the cost of living, has made employees’ financial stability significantly more variable.

This lack of financial resilience has knock-on consequences in the workplace, with the high cost of living not the only area that is driving the need for financial wellbeing support.

Increasingly, employers are becoming aware of how those dealing with more complex clinical mental health conditions can be particularly vulnerable to poor financial wellbeing and exclusion. 

Key findings

REBA’s Financial Wellbeing Research 2024 found that supporting mental health was the top internal driver of change within employers’ financial wellbeing offerings.

Financial distress in the workplace was also a driver of change for one-third of organisations in the next two years.

Issues such as higher stress levels for those worrying about living expenses, through to absences due to poor mental health driven by financial instability, all contribute to lower productivity and performance.

The top issues putting employees financial wellbeing at risk:

• 46% - costs affecting carers in the workplace (including eldercare)

• 58% - high interest rates on mortgages

• 64% - high / rising cost of rent

• 73% - costs affecting working parents, eg childcare, maternity leave

Take part

REBA is now gathering information for its 2025 Financial Wellbeing Survey. To take part, visit: Financial Wellbeing Research 2025 Survey