The Problem:
Financial Exclusion
Most employees identify money as their primary source of stress—more than triple the next closest responses of work, health, and relationships.
Even during a global pandemic, financial concerns dominate over physical, mental, and emotional health worries. This results in massive losses for employers.
For each financially-stressed employee
Estimated workdays per year in lost productivity
Times as likely to experience anxiety or depression
%
As likely to be looking for a new job
Productivity and turnover costs of financial stress totaled over $500 billion for American businesses in 2018.
And it is not just an income problem: 32% of employees making over $200,000 per year are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Nearly six in ten workers experience physical symptoms related to money worries such as insomnia, ulcers, migraines, and heart issues. And a financially-stressed employee is nine times as likely to have conflicts at work.
For decades, companies have worked to help their people make better lives for themselves. Competitive wages, expensive benefits, and generous perks have not solved the problem—employees are more stressed and more strapped than ever before.
This is not the fault of employers. The costs of housing, health care, and education have risen far faster than wages or inflation. Credit card debt hit an all-time high in February of 2020, and the number one reason people add to their balances? Groceries. Making meaningful financial progress is harder than it has ever been.
69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in a savings account.
Most Americans’ financial worlds are balanced on the edge of a knife. Accidents, injuries, illnesses, maintenance needs, death, disability, divorce, layoffs, legal liabilities, identity theft, arrests, substance addiction, scams, and even a new or bad boss are all everyday events that can trigger financial collapse.
Most Americans are one life event away from requiring assistance for basic needs.
We all know people who have been through these events—a surprise diagnosis, a car accident, a mental health issue, or even an affair that leads to separation—and suddenly the family cannot make ends meet.
What are the causes of financial exclusion?
One explanation is that personal responsibility has eroded over time. And while there may be some truth to that, the reality is that today’s financial environment makes it more difficult than ever to make economic progress.
50 years ago, a home in the Denver area cost about twice a household’s annual income. Today the average home price is over 5.2 times median household income and rising. Nationwide, housing costs have grown over four times faster than wages since 1970. Education costs are exploding, growing nearly eight times faster than wages. Health care costs are increasing at more than double wage growth. While inflation models report only modest increases, the biggest costs for most families are rising far faster that typical consumer goods.
Debt is more available than ever before. Credit card limits (and debt) hit all-time highs in 2020. The average credit card interest rate is over 20% at a time when savings accounts are yielding practically nothing. And those with access to credit are fortunate—the average payday loan charges a staggering 391% per year.
Financial illiteracy and misinformation are also huge problems. Just 15% of workers are confident in their ability to manage their own money. Only 16% of millennials qualify as financially literate, and no age group gets to 50%. On top of those challenges, social marketing has increased over 110% in the past two years—we are advertised to exponentially more than any previous generation.
The financial advice industry is built for the wealthy and fortunate. It is a high-commission, high-conflict, and discriminatory business that does not even have solutions for people struggling to make ends meet. Financial progress is tougher than ever.
Learn how you can address the real needs of your team.
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