Financial wellbeing in Wales

Financial wellbeing is all about feeling secure, confident and empowered with your money, both day to day and into the future. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is an independent organisation set up by government, and we’re here to help your organization to build financial wellbeing for your employees, customers and community.

While there’s no one particular way to measure financial wellbeing, but we can get an overall idea of financial wellness in Wales by looking at a few key, big picture statistics. By looking at the statistics, it’s evident that the financial wellness challenges in our nation are substantial.

Key financial wellness statistics in Wales

Even before COVID-19, there were significant challenges to financial wellbeing in Wales, such as:

• 15.5% of adults in Wales were over-indebted – that is, they found keeping up with bills and credit commitments a heavy burden, or had fallen behind on payments in three or more of the previous six months.
• 58% of adults in Wales felt that keeping up with their bills and credit commitments was a burden.
• 66% of adults in Wales were not satisfied with their overall financial circumstances.
• 27% of adults in Wales had less than £100 in savings and investments.
• 53% of working-age adults in Wales did not have a plan for their finances in retirement.

(Money Advice Service ‘Wellbeing in Wales’, 2018)

The impact of coronavirus in Wales

The ongoing COVID–19 pandemic poses substantial challenges in Wales. Around 230,000 people were employed in industries that were told to close during coronavirus, representing around 16% of the total workforce. (Welsh Government, 2020)

Naturally, this disruption has led to many workers in Wales struggling financially. According to the Welsh Government National Survey (2020), 17% of people said that coronavirus has caused problems for their household finances.

Research also shows a link between struggling with money and poor mental wellbeing. Feeling low can in turn make it tough to manage money, causing a cycle of low mental and financial wellbeing.

In these difficult circumstances, financial wellbeing, and the education and guidance needed to achieve it, is more important than ever. Over the next decade, the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing is aiming to help people gain more confidence to manage their money. The vision is for everyone to make the most of their money and pensions in the short, medium and long term.

Get your copy of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing.

As MaPS Partnerships Manager in Wales, my role is to help deliver this vision in Wales. This includes supporting and working with a wide range of businesses and organisations to improve financial wellbeing for their customers, employees and communities.

Why financial wellbeing is important for your organisation

There are large numbers of people in Wales whose perception of their finances is negative. That’s really what financial wellbeing helps to change. Instead of viewing money as a burden or a worry, it should be viewed from a place of confidence and control.

Currently, over half of the adults in Wales (57%) don’t feel that they understand enough about pensions to make decisions about saving for retirement. Around half (51%) of the adults in Wales also don’t feel confident making decisions about financial products and services, while 42% don’t feel confident managing their money. (Money Advice Service, 2018)

These figures offer a sobering look at the state of financial wellbeing in Wales. But the good news is these problems can be dramatically improved through widespread and effective financial education, and raising awareness of the money guidance that’s available.This is a win-win situation for Welsh businesses and Wales generally because improved financial literacy will lead to improved financial wellness. Employees who are less stressed about money are more productive and happier.

Want to help employees manage their finances better? Use our guides, tools and calculators for free.

Free financial education in Wales

Data from the Office for National Statistics (2020) shows the vast majority of companies in Wales have fewer than 10 employees. These smaller employers form the backbone of communities up and down Wales.

Research also shows that Welsh businesses owners are the most ‘community-conscious’ in the UK.

_{^{Over three-quarters (83%) of business owners in Wales see their business as being particularly important to their local community}}.

(The Co-operative Bank, 2019)

That’s why MaPS believes that businesses are such key stakeholders in our mission to power up financial education and guidance in Wales. As Wales partnership manager, I’m here to offer organisations support and resources to build financial wellbeing in the workplace.

Free financial education resources for Wales:

As MaPS Wales Partnership Manager, I can work with businesses and organisations of any size to support financial wellbeing for people at all ages and stages of life.

• MaPS offers a bilingual service for consumers: view our consumer money guidance, tools and helplines in English and Welsh
• Commercial businesses can order a selection of money guides in print, Braille and audio formats for free
• MaPS offers a Coronavirus Hub, including personalised guidance on our Money Navigator Tool
• Redundancy guides and related pensions guides
• Our annual awareness campaign Talk Money Week, which reaches millions of people each year, and provides a platform to have a conversation about money in any walk of life.

Contact Rhian Hughes