Workers are stressed, and money worries are a big reason for their sleepless nights and lowered mental health. Employees are increasingly looking to their employer for guidance to help them cope with the financial strain they’re feeling.
In fact, while 83 percent of the 2,840 benefits decision-makers surveyed in MetLife’s annual benefits report said they think their employees are financially healthy, only 55 percent of the 2,884 full-time employees in the report said this was the case.
Inflation, a higher cost of living and debt were the top causes that workers across all groups cited as contributors to their low financial health. Among MetLife’s findings:
- 55 percent of workers said they are living paycheck to paycheck.
- 55 percent said they are in control of their finances; that’s down from 61 percent in 2022.
- 52 percent said they don’t have a three-month savings cushion; that’s down from 62 percent in 2022.
Nearly half (48 percent) of the employees surveyed by MetLife cited financial concerns—up from 31 percent in 2022—as the cause of their poorer mental health. PwC’s survey of 3,638 full-time U.S. employees found that financial stress negatively impacted workers’ sleep (56 percent), mental health (55 percent), physical health (44 percent) and relationships at home (50 percent).
