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💡 A new era of financial education 💡 Discover the latest release of our Workplace Finance platform
10 mins
Jun 17, 2026
The UK government's Financial Inclusion Strategy sets out a clear ambition to expand access to savings, credit, insurance, and debt support, but translating that into real outcomes requires employers to act. The session made the case that financial exclusion is not just a poverty issue; it affects millions of working people with unstable pay.
When left unaddressed, it drives mental health problems, absenteeism, and employee turnover. Employers are uniquely positioned to close the gap through payroll savings, workplace credit, better shift predictability, and higher uptake of existing benefits, and the economic prize for doing so is significant.
Emily Trant - Chief Impact Officer at Stream
Nye Cominetti - Principal Economist at Resolution Foundation
Conor Darcy - Deputy CEO at Money and Mental Health Policy Institute
Kate Pender - CEO at Fair4All Finance
1. Unstable pay is the hidden driver of financial exclusion at work
Only 4 in 10 employees receive the same pay every month. For many low-paid workers, month-on-month pay swings of 25% or more are common [2], making it near-impossible to save, budget, or access mainstream credit.
2. The money-mental health cycle is a productivity and retention crisis
Around 1 in 4 people experience mental health symptoms in any given year [3]. Among those in problem debt, it rises to 1 in 2 [4]. Workers in financial stress show reduced concentration, higher absenteeism, and are more likely to leave their jobs, costing employers in recruitment, training, and lost output.
3. 16 million people are underserved by mainstream credit [7], but workplace lending offers a more accessible route
There is £2 billion of unmet demand for credit that could be provided on a commercially viable basis [9]. Credit scores don't always capture the full picture of someone's financial health. Employment data and open banking insights can reveal repayment capacity that traditional scoring might miss. Payroll-based lending is an established, proven approach that works with the data employers already have
4. Solving financial inclusion is worth £6.4 billion a year to the UK economy
Research by WPI Economics, commissioned by Fair4All Finance, shows that meaningfully addressing financial exclusion would generate £6.4bn in annual economic growth [10], delivering dividends for employers and society.
5. Employers don't need to wait for the government
The Employment Rights Act, the national workplace savings coalition, and the Charlie Mayfield review all create tailwinds, but employers can act now on shift predictability, benefits uptake, payroll savings, and signposting to debt advice.
Emily opened the session and moderated throughout, framing the government strategy as something that only becomes real when applied to the workplace and consistently bringing the discussion back to what employers can do.
Lucy Rigby (speaking virtually) set out why the government published the Financial Inclusion Strategy, to help people access the products they need, manage money day to day, and fully participate in the economy. She highlighted that in 2024, 10% of adults had no savings and 21% had less than £1,000, and pointed to the national employer savings coalition launching in June as a key intervention [1]. Her message: the government cannot do this alone.
Emily transitioned to Nye, asking him to ground the discussion in who is actually experiencing financial exclusion and what their working lives look like.
Nye Cominetti argued that financial exclusion is not just a poverty issue, it affects workers with unstable pay. Only 4 in 10 employees have identical pay every month, and for many low-paid workers, month-on-month swings of 25% or more are common [2]. He pointed out that while the UK has largely solved very low hourly wages through minimum wage policy, unpredictable pay has had far less attention -- and that's something employers can directly address.
Emily asked Conor to explain what financial stress actually does to people, and how it shows up at work.
Conor Darcy described the cycle: financial stress causes mental health problems, which in turn affect people's ability to earn and save. At any given time, 1 in 4 people experience a diagnosable mental health problem in any given year [3]; among those in problem debt, it's 1 in 2 [4]. Employees in financial difficulty are significantly more likely to lose sleep, struggle to concentrate, and underperform at work than their financially comfortable colleagues [5]. He linked this to real business costs: presenteeism, sickness absence, and around 300,000 people with health conditions leaving work each year [6].
Emily noted that while the strategy draws clean lines between credit, savings, and debt, real lives don't work that way.
Kate Pender brought the interconnectedness to life with research tracking 50 households' real transactions, in one, a working mother was making up to 100 intra-family transfers a month just to stop direct debits from bouncing. She argued that even a trivial shock (a £300-500 washing machine) becomes a crisis when there are no savings, no insurance, and no affordable credit. She noted 10.5 million people have no credit file at all [8].
Emily named the tension the room was feeling: the government wants employers to facilitate credit, but many employers worry they'll cause harm. She asked Kate to make the case.
Kate explained the £2 billion unmet need [9]: credit that could be provided commercially and compliantly, but simply isn't. The credit market is not meeting the needs of the market for a range of reasons: scores can be up to six months out of date, and penalise people unfairly, a significant and growing share of county court judgments are linked to unpaid parking fines [16]. Alternative data like open banking and employment records can unlock lending for the 16 million people currently underserved [7]. She cited research showing that solving financial inclusion could generate £6.4 billion a year in economic growth [10].
Conor agreed but added design caveats: impulsive borrowing is a clinical symptom of some mental health conditions; complex terms are inaccessible when someone is unwell; and stigma stops people seeking help if they fear career consequences. He also stressed prevention, good pay, reliable shifts, and savings to reduce the need for emergency credit in the first place.
Nye added two product design principles: repayments need to flex with variable income, and products must have a clear job-change exit plan so credit doesn't inadvertently trap workers with an employer.
Kate backed the flexibility point, noting variable recurring payments technology already exists but is underused. She extended the portability argument to insurance, sharing how her own critical illness premium jumped from £45 to £223 a month when she left a large employer, and called for sector-level insurance schemes so cover follows workers between employers in the same industry.
Emily moved to savings, asking Conor to speak to the relationship between savings and mental health.
Conor described the constant background anxiety of having no buffer, knowing one small thing going wrong will cause a crisis. He explained how this feeds the cycle in both directions, and that having a mental health problem alongside problem debt extends recovery time by around 18 months [11]. He also described the "too ill to work, too broke not to" trap, where 94% of people surveyed had gone to work while unwell because they couldn't afford not to [11]. He ended on a positive note: payroll savings, auto-enrolment mechanics, and decent sick pay can break that cycle.
Emily invited closing thoughts, noting that payroll savings restart automatically every payday, the mechanism keeps working even when people are struggling.
Kate urged employers to push uptake of benefits they already offer from 60% to 80-90%, ensure employees are claiming entitlements (£24 billion in benefits goes unclaimed annually [12], with 38% of Universal Credit going to people in work [13]), and expand workplace savings, credit, and insurance.
Nye highlighted three ways employers could support financial resilience: prompting employees to review their pension contributions, signposting the Universal Credit savings scheme (which offers a 50% government match on savings of up to £50 per month [14]), and improving shift predictability ahead of the Employment Rights Act.
Conor added: engage with the Charlie Mayfield review on keeping people in work [15], invest in reasonable adjustments before employees reach crisis point, and signpost to EAPs and debt advice early, most people wait over a year before seeking help [18].
Emily closed by asking the room to remember they are serving the 8 in 10 [17], workers whose financial lives look very different from their own, and to use the trust employers hold to reach them.
Financial exclusion is not a fringe issue, it is the everyday reality of millions of working people whose pay is unpredictable, whose credit access is blocked by outdated scoring, and whose mental health is steadily eroded by financial stress. The government's Financial Inclusion Strategy provides the framework, and the payroll mechanism provides the infrastructure. But neither works without employers choosing to act. The session's message was clear and consistent: you already have the tools, the trust, and the reach. The ask is to use them more deliberately, and to push for higher uptake of what you've already built.
Footnotes
Legal Information
This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. It is intended for HR and People professionals.
Stream Financial Services Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company No. 12227891, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for consumer lending (FRN: 915914) and for the provision of payment services (FRN: 916866) under the Payment Services Regulations 2017.
Stream Platforms Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company no. 11173225.
Registered address: 7-9 Rathbone Street, London, United Kingdom, W1T 1LY.
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