The launch is in response to findings published by AXA late last year, which found that almost 25 million Brits were suffering from financial anxiety, and 1.4 million were taking time off as a result. With average household debt (excluding mortgages) now standing at almost £9,000 and an average of over £30,000 for each individual (including mortgages) money worries continue to be the biggest cause of stress and depression in the UK with stress-related illness costing £3.7 billion a year in lost productivity and healthcare costs.
AXA, which will undertake the six-month study with international content market agency Story Worldwide, aims to use financial education in the workplace as a way of tackling the UK's poor attitude to financial money management.
Half of Story's employees will have access to three distinct methods of financial guidance - one-to-one support with an Independent financial Adviser, a dedicated adviser telephone support service and some self-help guides, including online resources. Group sessions on generic financial needs will also be completed throughout the six months. The others, who will act as a control group, will be left to their own devices. Regular comparisons will be made on how each group are coping both from a wealth and health perspective.
Paul McMahon, managing director, AXA Corporate Benefits, said: "There can be no doubt that the UK consumer faces a complex range of financial issues from high levels of personal debt to lack of planning for retirement. We know that the national annual savings gap now exceeds £27 billion with 13million people at work having little, if any retirement provision. But while we know issues like this exist, there's no agreement on what the solutions should be.
Christina Strupinska, HR director, Story Worldwide, said, "People are at the centre of our business; we care about their wellbeing and do all we can to help our colleagues have a good life-work balance. Often stresses outside the workplace affect people's performance at work, as anxiety about their finances is significant. We hope that by offering a financial education programme to our employees, helping them to manage their finances better, they will feel more in control and happier.
"We will be interested to see how this pilot reduces stress and helps our employees to positively engage in the control of their personal money related issues."
The results of the experiment will be published in November 2010.
