About the Group
The Financial Resilience APPG was set up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which left an increasing number of households under greater financial pressure than ever before. The ‘just about managing’ and squeezed middle are struggling to get by, and their financial resilience – their ability to cope with sudden falls in their household income and make provision for their financial future – has been severely impacted. Whilst there has rightly been a significant level of Parliamentary attention on the lowest end of the income scale who may already be facing severe financial difficulties, there has been relatively little attention paid to the financial wellbeing of those who may have thought themselves financially secure, but could, as the pandemic has highlighted, face a precarious financial position either now or in the future. The Financial Resilience APPG was created to fill this gap in the market, providing MPs, Peers and wider stakeholders with a forum for discussion and to make recommendations to improve resilience. By doing so, the group will influence policy change to improve access to financial safety nets and prevent households across the UK from falling into severe difficulty.
The APPG is examining a wide range of policy issues, beginning with an inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on financial resilience. We also aim to explore financial resilience amongst the self-employed, the Ethnicity Pensions Gap and the impact of mental health on financial resilience. More widely we will examine young people’s engagement with their financial resilience, the protection gap, the role of insurance products in supporting resilience and the role of employers in supporting their employees’ financial wellbeing.
The ABI provides the Secretariat services for the group.
Group chairs
Co-Chair
Tonia Antoniazzi MP Labour, Gower
Co-Chair
Shaun Bailey MP Conservative, west Bromwich West
A quarter of working aged adults do not save any money
The newly launched All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Resilience, has found a quarter (24%) of working age adults (18-64 years old) didn’t save any money during the pandemic sparking major concerns about financial insecurity. The revelations have led to Co-Chairs of the APPG, Shaun Bailey MP and Tonia Antoniazzi MP, to issue a call for evidence to help further understand the impact Covid-19 has had on people’s finances.
Financial resilience is the ability to withstand life events that impact your income. People’s financial vulnerabilities are further exposed when considering housing and day-to-day costs if they are no longer able to work. When asked how long they would be able to manage financially, 1 in 5 working age adults would not have enough money to pay their bills at the end of a month. While a quarter would only manage financially for between one and three months.
The APPG on Financial Resilience’s inquiry will look to understand the impact Covid-19 has had on people’s financial resilience, looking at whether the pandemic has changed people’s habits and whether it has made people more aware of the risks they face, both now and in the future, and what action has been taken to better prepare. The findings will be used to develop policy proposals to ensure people are better prepared and have financial safety nets in place to cope with a financially stressful event such as unemployment, divorce, and long-term health problems.
Shaun Bailey MP, APPG on Financial Resilience Co-Chair said:
The findings from our poll are shocking and highlight just how vulnerable working age adults’ financial security is. Covid-19 and other recent events has brought financial security into sharp focus. It is important that we understand why people struggle to have financial safety nets in place so we can find solutions to encourage people to be more financially equipped for a rainy day.”
Tonia Antoniazzi MP, APPG on Financial Resilience Co-Chair added:
It is alarming how few people will be able to pay their bills beyond a month if they are unable to work. The launch of the APPG could not be timelier. Now more than ever it is important to focus on individuals’ financial resilience so we can understand what barriers are in the way to being more financially secure. We hope organisations from across the spectrum provide evidence to the enquiry so we can build a clearer picture of the nations’ financial resilience.”
Organisations that have an interest in ensuring people are financially secure are invited to submit evidence to the inquiry by contacting [email protected].
The APPG welcomed submissions to a Call for Evidence on its inquiry into financial resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic. This closed 7 February 2022; written submissions and research sent to the APPG can be found here, listed under the submitting organisation:
Events
APPG Call for Evidence Terms of Reference
The APPG has launched a call for evidence. If you would like to submit evidence, please email secretariat before the 2nd June 2023.
Please answer as many or as few questions as you would like. If there are any resources outside of your call of evidence that you would like the APPG to consider, please send those to the Secretariat email address.
- From your/your organisation’s point of view, how is poor individual or household financial resilience reflected in people’s lives and wellbeing?
- How have the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis impacted people’s financial resilience?
- How can we expect the issue to develop in the short, medium and long term?
- What is the correlation between financial resilience and health?
- How do poor mental and physical health interact with individual finances, for example income and savings? Are the interactions different or similar for mental and physical health?
- What support is available if someone’s health is compromised by their financial situation?
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- To what extent do state benefits provide financial resilience for:
- people with disabilities and long-term health conditions,
- people who experience short-term illness and injury that means they leave the workforce for a period, and
- people who leave the workforce due to caring responsibilities? Does the social care system affect financial resilience in later life?
- To what extent do state benefits provide financial resilience for:
- How do those with poor financial resilience deal with childcare responsibilities?
- How do childcare costs impact the financial resilience of households with young children?
- What policy changes related to childcare and early years would improve financial resilience for these households?
- To what extent does the benefits system provide and promote financial resilience?
- Are there parts of the benefits system that are particularly good, or bad, at cultivating financial resilience?
- Does the benefit system encourage people into employment?
- If someone has a short period of absence from the workforce does the benefit system prevent them from financial hardship?
- What additional measures exist and are effective at supporting financial resilience if people leave for extended periods or permanently?
- What lessons can we learn from international or local examples to support financial resilience whilst managing the cost to taxpayers?
- What short- and long-term changes should the government make to the benefits system to support financial resilience?
- Is employment the key to financial resilience?
- Three out of every five people living in poverty are in a household where someone works (Health Foundation). What are the main drivers of this?
- Unemployment is at a near 50-year low, but since the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a significant increase in the number of people neither in nor looking for work, with 6.7 million of the working age population economically inactive, excluding students (Spring Budget). More than 2.5 million of these reported that they are inactive due to long-term sickness. What services are effective at keeping workers healthy and supporting people into work if they have long-term health conditions, or if they experience short-term illness or injury?
- Are these services available across all groups of employees e.g. senior managers and entry-level roles, and for people who work in large organisations and SMEs?
- To what extent are people saving enough during their working life to achieve financial resilience in their later life? What policy measures would promote lifelong financial resilience whilst a person is in employment?
- Are there any other policies that you would suggest the APPG investigate as ways to improve financial resilience?
Contact the group
If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please contact the group at [email protected]