Financial Wellness Stats You Need to Know in 2024

Financial security plays a huge role in our wellbeing – and not just for individuals, but also the organizations at which they are employed. Workforce financial wellness can have a resounding impact within the boundaries of a company willing to invest in it, supporting positive business metrics such as improved retention rates, higher levels of employee engagement, and even a lifted bottom line.

But financial wellness isn’t something that happens in a vacuum. Economic shift, employee financial literacy, and other factors come together to determine the necessary steps and behaviors it takes to build monetary stability, for the individual as well as the employing company. That’s why monitoring the roster of current financial wellness facts is a critical task for organizations employing a modern strategy.

Let’s dive in.

What is financial wellness?

The term ‘financial wellness’ describes an enduring balance between a group or individual’s income, expenditure, savings, and debt which allows for better control over their money. When financial wellness is achieved, the group or individual:

• May easily absorb emergency expenses.

• Avoid excessive debt. 

• Cover the costs of the every-day. 

• Save for the future.

• Use the surplus to invest and /or enjoy the present according to their own sensibilities.

Another critical aspect of holistic financial wellness is the individual’s emotional state as it relates to their finances. Freedom from stress and a sense of confidence and security in one’s financial capacity is the final flag which signals the achievement of financial wellbeing.

13 critical financial wellness statistics for 2024

Financial wellness is an achievable goal for all members of the global workforce. But to help your employees get there, your team needs to know what it’s dealing with. Here are the 13 top financial wellness statistics you need to know in 2024.

The state of financial wellness

1. Individual perceptions of the state of both the economy as well as their personal financial standing are at their lowest they’ve been within the past 5 years. 74 percent of respondents feel “at least okay” about their own financial standing, while a scant 18 percent believe the national economy to be “good.” (FRB)

2. Inflation represents the top cause of financial concern for individuals at most income levels, especially in households earning more than $50,000 per year. (FRB)

3. 80 percent of CHROs are concerned that wage increases are unable to keep up with the speed of inflation; this worry is reflected by 59 percent of employees who agree that their pay is inadequate for the current economic climate. (PwC)

Financial wellness and stress

1. 57 percent of employees say money is for them a top cause of stress, with organizational changes such as an employer’s cost-cutting measures following close behind. This statistic is an increase from numbers gathered at the crest of the COVID-19 pandemic.(PwC)

2. 44 percent of employees who report financial stress admit that worrying about their money has significantly hindered their performance and productivity while at work. (PwC)

3. Financial stress impacts more than just workforce performance – top employee ailments resulting from money-related worry include sleep (56 percent), mental health (55 percent), and even self-esteem (50 percent). (PwC)

4. In 2022, 35 percent of respondents believe they are financially “worse off” than the year before, compared to 20 percent of respondents in 2021. (FRB)

Financial wellness and DEI

1. Individuals holding higher levels of education feel much more confident in their financial standing than those without – 88 percent of respondents holding a bachelor’s degree or beyond feel they have at least adequate financial stability, compared to the 49 percent of respondents working without a high school diploma. (FRB)

2. Race also cuts a hard line through the experience of financial wellness, with 77 percent of white respondents reporting adequate financial standing compared to just 64 percent of black respondents. (FRB)

3. Members of the LGBTQ+ community lag several points behind with just 65 percent reporting financial stability compared to 75 percent of their straight counterparts. Transgender respondents are even less likely to experience financial confidence, with just 55 percent reporting an “okay” financial standing. (FRB)

Financial wellness and the organization

1. 74 percent of employees want support from their employers to develop more stable financial standings: this includes financial education, decision making support, and direct help in dealing with money-related hardship and emergencies. (PwC)

2. Employee engagement with employer-provided financial services is at an all-time high, with 68 percent of respondents reporting that they actively use or have used their organization’s financial support programming. (PwC)

3. 73 percent of employees say that employer-provided financial support is an important factor in whether or not they will remain with their current organization. (PwC)

Financial wellness stats: What’s next?

The economic times are tough, and both employees and the companies they work for are feeling the effects of financial stress. But armed with these statistics, and the knowledge that employees are ready to engage with your company’s financial wellness solutions, organizations are in a prime position to do something about it.

First, pay your people a thriving wage. Before you make cuts to your team, consider stalling on executive bonuses or your profit margin. In the long run, a happy, productive workforce will generate greater gains than one in a constant state of worry.

Next, consider implementing an intelligent financial wellness solution like Origin. 

Origin is a financial wellness program that helps employees to cultivate holistic financial wellness with a strategic amalgamation of financial education, tooling, and expert advice. Origin has a proven impact on both employee financial wellbeing as well as organizational metrics:

1. Following Origin implementation, organizations saw an average increase of 42 percent in employee retirement contributions.

2. Addressing employee financial stress with Origin saved companies $5600 in attrition per employee.

3. Increased retention and decreased stress meant that Origin helped to save an enterprise organization $2.8 million in backfilling roles.

Origin is fully customizable to meet the exact needs of your business and its people. Find out what else Origin can do for you: Use Origin.