Income streaming: How to overcome financial stress in the workplace

Often the smallest short-term need can lead to a mountain of debt. 

In May 2019 UK borrowers paid a staggering £138 million pounds each and every day in interest payments and the debt crisis is only predicted to get worse.

All this debt is having a huge impact on the workforce, with 85% of UK adults saying that they experience stress on a regular basis and a majority naming money worries as the primary cause.

In the workplace

The impact of financial stress is not just confined to the home. 

Four out of five employers surveyed by the IFEBP reported that employees’ personal finance issues were impacting their job performance with 60% saying that it led to an inability to focus at work.

PwC found that stressed employees were twice as likely to miss work as a result of issues related to personal finance and three times more likely to spend more than five hours dealing with financial issues during work hours.

It’s not surprising then that EY found 77% of executives have committed to implementing financial wellness programmes at their organisations to tackle this growing problem and support their staff.

The solutions

Organisations are tackling financial stress in three main ways: through education, through providing access to financial advice and through providing access to financial services, including debt consolidation. 

Any attempt to help reduce financial stress should be encouraged, but the focus of these programmes is often on how to reduce staff debt once it’s been created rather than on helping staff avoid debt altogether.

Services like debt consolidation have their place, but continue to burden staff with interest payments, often over a longer period of time.

So while the financial burden is reduced, the stress can remain.

Income streaming

Income streaming is different. 

It helps staff avoid debt in the first place.

Income streaming  allows employees to stream some of the wages they have already earned during the month into their bank account when they most need it, to help cover those unexpected bills and expenses that would otherwise push them into debt. 

Combined with financial education, income streaming can be a sustainable solution to the problem of payday borrowing and other forms of short-term credit. 

Executives at large organisations such as Rentokil Initial, Firstsource, Casual Dining Group, Stonegate and Shepherd Neame have already recognised the life-changing power of income streaming and have chosen to roll it out to their entire workforce. 

Wagestream

Wagestream is the leading provider of income streaming services in the UK and Europe. 

Over 130k employees are eligible to receive access to its income streaming services every day.

Staff who use Wagestream have access to first class financial education provided by the Money Advice Service as well as the ability to both stream and save their income through the Wagestream app. 

Supported by five key charities and foundations, including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Barrow Cadbury Trust, Wagestream has raised tens of millions of pounds to help bring its responsible solution to financial wellbeing to millions of people across the UK and Europe.

If you are looking for a financial wellness solution for your organisation, join leading employers such as Carluccio’s, Cafe Rouge, Camden Town Brewery, Rentokil Initial and David Lloyd who have already partnered with Wagestream to deliver a responsible solution that helps support sustainable financial wellbeing.

To find out more about income streaming and learn how you can roll out Wagestream to your workforce, get in touch with our team.