New research reveals a striking link between demographic factors and how comfortable employees are sharing money worries at work. The lesson for employers is clear: if you want to reduce money stigma to improve financial wellbeing, you can’t ignore demographic factors in your engagement communications.

In the research*, Dynamics in Financial Wellbeing: The Stigma Edition 2023, gender has emerged as a key variable in the willingness to share money worries at work. More than double the number of women (50%) as men (21%) said they were not comfortable sharing money worries with their employer.

The research, produced by financial wellbeing platform Bippit, surveyed 5000 UK employees and 660 senior HR professionals, and it identified age as another demographic factor influencing willingness to discuss money worries at work.

Three-quarters (74%) of over 55s haven’t told their employer about their money worries – which is slightly more than for 18-25 year olds (70%) and well above the figure across all age groups (58%).

Additionally, more than twice as many older workers (20% compared to 8% across all age ranges) said they didn’t feel comfortable talking to anyone about their money worries.

This may be driven by older workers feeling a sense of insecurity that they should be in a healthier financial situation. However, on the flip side, the lower tendency for younger workers to share money worries may be due to a lack of confidence or experience with these matters.

When it comes to pay, well over half (58%) of those earning £15,000 or less per year would not be comfortable sharing money worries with their employer. This compares to 24% in the £35,001 to £45,000 bracket and 18% in the £45,001 to £55,000 bracket, indicating that more highly pressured a financial situation is, the more stigma there may be.

In addition to pay, the research identifies length of service as a demographic factor influencing willingness to share money worries at work. Just under two-thirds (62%) of those with less than six months service were not comfortable sharing money worries at work. However the same proportion of those with 30+ years’ service felt the same. This compares to 43% for service between 1-2 years and 25% for 3-4 years’ service

Sam Lathey, CEO of Bippit, said: “In order to improve financial wellbeing in our organisations, we can’t treat all of our employees as if they were the same person with the same needs. The Stigma Edition 2023 clearly shows that certain demographic characteristics are relevant when it comes to how willing employees are to talk about money at work.”

“This has significant implications for engagement communications, with personalised engagement being essential to engage with individuals in the workplace. As the research shows, for example, women are significantly less likely to want to talk about money at work than men, so we need to recognise this and tailor our initiatives accordingly.”

Michael Royce, Senior Policy Manager at the Money and Pensions Service, said: “This report is a welcome addition to our understanding and it offers some important insights into what people are struggling with and how we can help. We look forward to working with Bippit and other stakeholders during our annual Talk Money Week as we seek to improve financial wellbeing in the workplace.”