Topic overview: workplace

• Financial education, flexible pay options and payroll saving schemes are promising approaches for supporting employee financial wellbeing.
• Financial confidence is linked to financial wellbeing, but over-confidence can result in poor financial decisions.
• To build financial confidence, many need to acknowledge a gap in their skills and actively seek guidance.
• Financial wellbeing support in the workplace works better when it is seen as trustworthy, and caters to employee needs.
• Support should focus on areas such as: income-stability and budgeting support, pension education, and early signposting into debt advice. 

Our research shows that 24 million UK adults do not feel confident managing their money, and three in five employees say that money worries affect their ability to do their job. This has implications for wider employee wellbeing, and most employers recognise a link between financial wellbeing and staff productivity.

Employers are uniquely positioned to deliver financial wellbeing support.

MoneyView 2026 shows that around half of UK adults are struggling with bills, would not last three months without their income and do not save regularly. One in five are using credit for essentials, and the need for debt advice among adults of working age is high.

Health impacts associated with financial stress and working when unwell peak during middle age.

Financial wellbeing among people of working age is often worse for young people, low-income households, disabled people, those with recent mental health problems, single parents, private renters and people from ethnic minority groups. Workers in manual and low-skilled jobs are around twice as likely as senior professionals to struggle or fall behind with bills.

The health effects of financial stress, including working while unwell, tend to be most noticeable in people’s 40s and 50s.

This is higher still among people of working age, and anxiety about money can negatively affect people's productivity at work.

Financial confidence increases with age and is influenced by people’s experiences, circumstances, personalities, biases and basic skills (including numeracy and digital skills). It is generally lower among young adults (particularly young women), Black and minority ethnic groups, people who are unemployed and private renters.

Confidence is low among people in financial difficulty. Life events which negatively affect financial wellbeing, such as job loss, family break-ups and bereavement, also affect financial confidence.

However, being over-confident is linked to reduced financial capability and advice-seeking. Three in ten employees do not seek information or advice when making financial decisions. Making people aware of their skill or knowledge gaps can lead to an initial fall in confidence, but is often helpful for tackling over-confidence in the longer term.

Interventions which address basic skills, including digital skills, have been shown to build confidence and encourage people to continue developing these skills. One-to-one support is helpful for building confidence, especially among young adults. 

Financial wellbeing is a key area in which employers can take a wider, more effective and more active role. However, while interest among employers is growing, financial wellbeing often remains overlooked.

Financial wellbeing can be a sensitive and complex subject, making it challenging for people to engage with interventions. Employees often avoid money conversations, so successful intervention requires employers to prove their support for employees and encourage open discussions. Enabling conversations which are timely, trusted, and empathetic has clear benefits for employees.

Workplace leaders tend to assume lower earners worry about money more than they do in reality, so any programme of support should first identify employee needs, and then match them to the most appropriate and accessible content, presentation and delivery approach. Employers should also consider the feasibility of delivering different types of financial wellbeing support, and when and how to use external providers.

Support should be backed at all levels of the organisation. It can be offered as part of a wider programme which includes mental and physical health support .

Critical areas of focus include income-stability and budgeting support, pension education, and early support and signposting, including to debt advice.

Education should be co-produced with employees and ideally supported by learning through experience. Teachable moments, such as when employees most need support or are facing life events (such as changing roles, redundancy or moving home), are key target points for intervention.

Peer-based approaches can increase reach and engagement, particularly among young adults and people from disadvantaged groups. They are non-judgemental, relatable, hands-on, provide good role models and enhance accountability in group settings. However, peer educators need training in financial capability, listening and facilitation skills tailored to their needs, clear roles, and ongoing personal and emotional support.

While financial education matters, taking more direct financial action on behalf of employees might also be important for improving their financial wellbeing. This goes beyond information and guidance.

For example, employers can offer access to regulated advice, financial products and services, discount schemes and low-cost loans or grants. Flexible pay options, such as partial pay in advance of the standard payday, support workers on low incomes and can co-exist with saving – if not used too often.

Payroll saving schemes are attractive to employees, employers and providers, such as credit unions. They appear to be most beneficial for those in greatest need of saving support, though incentives to join or save into schemes may be important.

Behavioural tools – such as auto-enrolment, auto-escalation and defaults – have been effective in increasing workplace savings (and pension contributions). Compared to opt-in schemes, opt-out approaches (auto-enrolment) have been shown to improve participation and saving levels in workplace schemes, and to reduce withdrawal rates.

Auto-enrolment can help people to overcome poor financial confidence, and is inclusive at different income levels, for part-time workers, by age, gender and ethnicity. However, information and behavioural tools alone do not necessarily lead to sustained engagement, which needs a wider-ranging approach.

Within workplace savings schemes, employees like the flexibility and ‘set and forget’ principle of payroll savings, while trust and word-of-mouth also seem important. ‘Sidecar’ payroll savings schemes appear to be useful for supporting budgeting and cashflow management, building a savings buffer, and supporting future goals.

Further research is needed to better understand the psychology of financial confidence, and its influence on financial capability, behaviour and wellbeing, and how likely people are to seek support.

A key knowledge gap relates to the combination of workplace interventions that are effective for diverse workforce profiles and in different employer settings. Further research could also focus on how employers can effectively target support to employees given the existing data contact points they already have.

Evidence on peer-based approaches in relation to older adults and financial wellbeing in the workplace is limited. Although the evidence on payroll savings schemes is consistent and clear, more work is needed to understand how best to engage with UK employees.

Future research might consider a wider range of behavioural tools which support financial decision-making and, critically, how to sustain financially capable behaviours.

Key sources informing this overview are:

• Financial wellbeing: an evidence reviewOpens in a new window - CIPD (2021) 
• Financial Well-being in the Workplace: A Way ForwardOpens in a new window - Financial Advice Working Group, HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (2017) 
• MoneyView 2026 - Money and Pensions Service (2026)
• Financial Education for Long-term Savings and Investments - OECD (2015) 
• Workplace emergency saving: a landscape review of existing evidenceOpens in a new window - Nest Insight (2021) 

You can also see:

• our full list of topic overviews, covering a range of themes related to financial wellbeing 
• our financial wellbeing evidence hub, a database of research and evidence.

This overview has been prepared with reference to a wide range of literature, including an earlier series of thematic reviews produced by the Money and Pensions Service and on behalf of the Money and Pensions Service by the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) at Birmingham University, the University of Edinburgh Business School, Toynbee Hall and Ecorys UK.