A diminishing proportion of employees reported high levels of financial stress in the first quarter of the year, according to a new survey.
The survey, by workplace financial education provider Financial Finesse, found that employees accelerated the rate at which they reduced their financial stress in Q1 2011, a trend seen since 2010 in their attempts to recover from the 2008 recession. In 2009, nearly 34 percent of employees reported having high or overwhelming financial stress. This number dropped to 32 percent in 2010 and even further in Q1 2011 to 21 percent.
However, women reported significantly higher levels of financial stress than men: 9 percent of women reported having overwhelming financial stress vs. just 3 percent of men. The key demographic groups most vulnerable to having financial stress were women, employees ages 30-44 and middle-income Americans making between $60,000 and $74,999 per year. Married employees reported less stress than single employees despite the fact that finances are regularly cited as the number one cause of divorce.
Most employees who reported having no financial stress actually had major flaws in their long-term financial plans. Poor money management continues to be the key driver of employees’ financial stress.
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