CHASM Seminar: Making work pay: the role of workplace financial wellbeing services in the UK

Dr Margaret May and Dr Edward Brunsdon, Honorary Research Fellows, School of Social Policy/CHASM, University of Birmingham

Among the many proposals being advocated for tackling the problems of household indebtedness, low savings and financial exclusion in the UK are calls for an expansion of employer provision of what, following American practice, are being branded as ‘Financial Wellbeing Services’.  Ranging from debt counselling and credit facilities to non-pension savings, income protection and educational schemes, these are being promoted as inclusive ways of sustaining financial resilience across the workforce in the face of economic uncertainty and welfare state retrenchment.  With their focus on money management rather than pay they are also being upheld as addressing an array of human resource management concerns. This seminar aims to open up debate on this development, recent government responses and their social policy implications.