Women and non-managers face significantly greater financial challenges than the average UK employee, yet HR isn’t addressing their needs, finds Bippit’s latest research. Non-managers make up 75%* of the workforce, and 16 million women** are employed across the UK. Ignoring these groups has serious consequences for workplace productivity and wellbeing.

The report, Dynamics in Financial Wellbeing: The Inclusion Edition 2024, surveyed 2,000 UK employees and 500 HR managers. It found that while 18% of UK employees worry about money daily, women are over three times more likely than men to feel this stress, affecting nearly 28% of working women. Non-managers are more than twice as likely to worry about money than managers and twice as likely to feel unsupported by their employer.

HR isn’t closing these inclusion gaps. 39% of non-managers say their organisation provides no financial wellbeing support to them, compared to just 12% of managers. Women are also three times less likely to share their money worries with their employer than men.

Why isn’t HR taking action? The research shows that there’s a disconnect between HR and the lived experiences of these groups. Only 17% of HR professionals say money is their top stressor, behind work, mental health, physical health, and friendships. Yet for women (37%) and non-managers (34%), money is their biggest concern. And this disconnect is further highlighted when it comes to perceptions of employer support. 59% of HR professionals believe they provide financial support appropriate to employee needs, and yet only 44% of employees agree, dropping to 31% of female employees who agree.

Sam Lathey, Chief Executive of Bippit, said:

We have found that there are considerable differences in the lived experiences between HR professionals and employees, which may be shielding HR from the struggles that their people are experiencing. This appears to be leading HR to underestimate the scale of inclusion challenges across various groups in the workforce, which could have significant implications for how we design inclusive financial wellbeing strategies in the future.

Sam Lathey, Chief Executive of Bippit

Andrew Berrie, Head of Corporate Partnerships and leading Workplace Wellbeing at Mind, believes that Bippit’s research highlights the importance of taking a person-centred approach to any employee engagement and support strategy. The link between money and mental health is well known. Poor mental health can make managing money more difficult and financial difficulties can make our mental health worse. Berrie explains that the cause of financial concerns will vary within each workforce but could include things like debt, dealing with unexpected changes in life, or not being well enough to manage finances. Likewise, the impact this has on mental health will vary from person to person. Organisations need to understand the financial challenges their workforce might face and how to support them.

* Benchmarks vary based on different analyses and data. We have averaged out 35% from The Importance of People Management (CIPD, 2023) and 15% from Indicators of Management Capability: Developing a Framework (Tamkin et al, date of publication uncertain)
** The number of women in employment in October to December 2023, Women and the UK Economy, (House of Commons Library, 2024)