A third of UK employees save less than £50 a month and one in five do not save anything, according to research published in a Lifetime Savings Challenge Report 2017 published jointly by Close Brothers and the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association. Only 40% of employees are confident about choosing the right savings product, for example, 42% of young workers do not use a Lifetime ISA because they do not know enough about the product.
The majority of employers (65%) recognise they have a key role to play in improving financial wellbeing at work, but three-quarters of workers say their employer has not provided any financial education. The research suggests that financial education is effective – more than a third of employees receiving it said that it had been useful in guiding their immediate, medium and long-term saving decisions.
Jeanette Makings, head of financial education at Close Brothers, said:
‘Employers have a key role to play in solving this lifetime savings challenge, but despite them seeing it as their responsibility to enhance the financial education of their workforce, far too few are adequately addressing the issue amongst their employees.’