At IPSA we are constantly striving to improve the overall service and the support we give our members and their employees. That’s why we will be launching a Wellbeing Sub-Committee at our AGM in July of this year.
There are many triggers for this new sub-committee, one of them being the research carried out by IPSA member Yorkshire Building Society, an extract of which we have shared below.
Some of the key findings are startling and all Council members felt that we had a duty of care to ensure that Wellbeing (in whatever form) had a greater profile in Ireland, enabling us to influence change.
Key findings:
- 29% of respondents said that family were their main source of advice.
- 35% only save into the UK SAYE scheme (Sharesave) that is offered by their employer (they have no other savings).
- Three simple questions were asked around financial literacy and only 9% of those who saved into a Sharesave Scheme answered correctly. Where Financial education had been offered in the workplace this increased to 15%.
- Eight million work-aged Britons have less than £100 in savings (circa €114) Source: Money Advice Service, September 2016.
- The average debt is up 26% to £3,600 (circa €4,115) since Q1 2013. Source: Bank of England, Office for National Statistics, October 2016.
IPSA Wellbeing Sub-Committee, in collaboration with Yorkshire Building Society, aims to gather data from Irish SAYE and APSS participants to provide similar insights for the Irish employee base, so that we can incorporate in any recommendations and challenges into existing Government policy and thinking.
Our vision is to work with companies and individuals to shape easy access to financial education so that people are able to make decisions that are right for them and ultimately support their overall wellbeing. If you would like to be involved, learn more or wish to share ideas on how the team should shape this new initiative, then please reach out to IPSA Council members Caroline Herity (Mercer) email: Caroline.Herity@mercer.com or Louise Drake (Yorkshire Building Society) email: lndrake@ybs.co.uk who are jointly heading up this new initiative for IPSA members.
