Banking Wellbeing Pulse – Edition 2
What our data is telling us
In the last edition of the banking wellbeing pulse, we reported that our data showed that bank employees’ wellbeing concerns broadly mirrored those of the wider UK population. What we saw in April 2024 was that two wellbeing issues dominated the way that bank employees made use of our Charity’s services. Financial wellbeing and children and young people’s mental health preoccupied the banking community, much as these issues did the country at large. Neither trend was altogether surprising as we were in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, and the NHS was proving woefully inadequate in meeting the soaring demand for mental health services amongst children and young people. Sadly, two years on, not a great deal has changed on either front. Both issues remain prominent in our caseload but other concerns have also come to the fore.
Financial wellbeing
Children and young people’s mental health
Financial wellbeing
Children and young people’s mental health
Domestic abuse
Carer's needs
The cost-of-living crisis continues to hurt bank employees
Since inflation rates dropped from the 41 year high of 11.1% in October 2022 to 3.0% in February 2026, the term cost-of-living crisis is heard far less frequently in news reports or from the mouths of government ministers. This is misleading and perhaps a little disingenuous. The fact is that the prices of all of life’s essentials, including food, fuel and accommodation have stabilised at levels far in excess of where they stood three years ago, whilst wage increases have lagged far behind. And that means that most people remain significantly worse off than they were, with many continuing to struggle financially.
That is as true of those working for banks, as it is for the population at large. It is also clearly reflected in our client usage data which shows that financial issues remain the most pressing wellbeing concern for our community. Of the 10,182 presenting issues our advice team assisted with since the last report, 64% concerned financial problems, barely down on the 68% we saw at the height of the cost-of-living crisis. Financial issues remain by a large margin, the biggest wellbeing concern within our community.
Children and young people’s mental health
Meanwhile the crisis in children’s mental health remains every bit as serious as it was two years ago. At the height of Covid, the Centre for Mental Health warned that 1.5 million children would need new or additional support from the NHS by the end of the pandemic. Research is still being undertaken to determine the full impact of Covid on this age group but regrettably, the Centre for Mental Health’s unwelcome prediction has come to pass.
That trend in demand continues to be apparent within the banking community. Bank Workers Charity funds counselling for employees’ children through our partner Relate at Family Action. The Covid surge in demand that we experienced between 2021-2023 has persisted into the present, as parents continue to turn to charities like ours, to access the clinical support for their children that the NHS is currently unable to deliver. The NHS’s intractable problems in this area, including a shortage of qualified practitioners, are not going to be resolved in the short or even medium term. We expect demand from worried parents to persist for the foreseeable future.
68
of parents were concerned about their children’s mental health
48
of those surveyed said their troubles were affecting them at work
Source: Mind Forward Alliance
At Bank Workers Charity we heard these worries expressed at close quarters, within two webinars Bank Workers Charity delivered on children and young people’s mental health.
The webinars proved extremely popular, with nearly 3,000 registering for the sessions. The second was a panel event delivered alongside our partners Relate at Family Action. It gave attendees the opportunity to present questions and problematic scenarios around their children’s mental health, to the experts. The webinar’s chat sections were active to an unprecedented degree, as participants shared experiences, empathised and highlighted clinical resources to other attendees desperate to learn of alternative sources of clinical help for their children.
Whilst children’s mental health and financial wellbeing issues remain prevalent in our caseload, two other wellbeing concerns have assumed a greater prominence since we produced our last report. The first of these is domestic abuse.
The client team is hearing from more people affected by domestic abuse year on year. For the first time, we’re also supporting people who are experiencing more varied forms of abuse. This is down to a combination of factors including more awareness raising by employers and by charities like us. Also, the recent change in the definition of domestic abuse means people are feeling better able to seek support.
Bank Workers Charity Helpline Manager
Domestic abuse
Our helpline manager’s reference above to different types of abuse is interesting. On examination, we’re hearing from people in more diverse abusive scenarios; abuse that is happening within relationships, post separation abuse and situations where the abuse is perpetrated by more than a single person; often multiple family members.
Initially we assumed that the increase in caseload we were seeing, reflected a growth in the incidence of abuse societally. But data from two abuse charities suggests otherwise, with the figures in recent years remaining broadly static.
1/4
women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime
1/7
men in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime
Sources: Refuge, National Centre for Domestic Violence
What certainly appears to be the case is that domestic abuse has received greater attention as a societal problem, alongside an increased willingness to address it. More importantly, with implications for our client caseload, it has become a prominent concern in the banking sector. Within many UK banks there is now a strong focus on supporting victim-survivors of abuse both within their customer base and among their workforces. It seems highly probable that this greater focus is resulting in more referrals, via those banks, to our charity for support.
Banks – a primary source of support
A somewhat surprising finding is that survivors of domestic abuse are more inclined to talk to their bank than to reach out to a specialist domestic abuse service. And that is likely down to the steps that banks have taken to associate themselves with societal efforts to address the issue. Many banks are now training staff in how to recognise the signs of abuse amongst their customers. The higher visibility of the issue in the workplace has also made it easier for bank employees experiencing abuse to come forward and seek help. 25 banks, including all of the majors, have signed up to work with the charity Surviving Economic Abuse.
TSB were the first bank to introduce safe spaces within their branches and over time they’ve developed a culture that supports survivors of abuse. The “Safe Spaces” training the bank introduced in 2021, mandatory for all customer-facing colleagues, has been completed 10,599 times, with over 3,000 completing in 2025 alone. Their line manager training, launched in 2022 has been completed an impressive 1,408 times. And the emergency flee fund they’ve put in place has proved invaluable, allowing victim-survivors to receive up to £500 to fund the essentials they need to leave the abusive situation. Over 800 survivors, including colleagues as well as customers, have benefited from this outstanding resource. The bank remains in the vanguard of organisations tackling abuse and provides inspiration and guidance to other employers seeking to make a difference.
At Bank Workers Charity domestic abuse remains one of the most complex scenarios brought to us. But the support we provide makes a major and often transformational difference to clients who have often run out of places to turn to. We work closely with the banks engaged in this area, ensuring that they’re fully aware of the assistance, especially the financial support, that we’re able to put in place. We’re acutely aware that the best way to help victim-survivors, is to ensure that they’re aware of and able to access the growing pool of resources now available across society. And whilst Bank Workers Charity is not a specialist in domestic abuse, we do have significant provision, especially grants, that complement what banks and domestic abuse services currently offer.
The needs of carers
The second issue to have come to prominence since the last report is carer’s needs. Carers often feel themselves to be an underappreciated demographic within UK society, perhaps with some justification. The contribution of unpaid carers in the UK is worth a huge £184.3 billion each year, almost equalling the total cost of the NHS.
It’s not altogether surprising that we find ourselves supporting carers in unprecedented numbers. All the research into the impact of caring tells the same story. It is highly demanding, placing strain on all aspects of life, especially when coupled with a demanding job.
49
of unpaid carers find they have to cut back on essentials such as food, heating, clothing and transport costs
Many end up giving up work entirely when the caring demands become too onerous. As a consequence, finances are often stretched. It takes a toll on carers’ health and on their social wellbeing too, as they frequently have neither the time nor the money to socialise.
35
of working carers say they have reduced their working hours
1/5
say they have taken on a lower paid or more junior role that fits better with their caring responsibilities
52
of carers say the amount of time they have had to devote to caring has risen in the last year
Source: Carers UK
Faced with so many different pressures, carers seek assistance from Bank Workers Charity for a wide variety of reasons. In the last financial year, our casework team provided advice and information to carers over 300 times. The commonest examples included seeking help to:
- Navigate the benefits system as it applies to carers
- Identify local support groups
- Obtain support to fund increased mobility for their dependents
And the more work we’ve done with this group the more we’ve come to appreciate how much the term carer masks a wide range of different scenarios. Within our caseload are sandwich generation carers who are looking after dependents at both ends of the age spectrum. There are young carers, under the age of 18, whom family circumstances have thrust into a caring role. There are carers for multiple dependents, as well as carers who are themselves disabled and yet find themselves looking after a partner or for someone with less mobility than themselves. These varied scenarios produce a multitude of needs that are unlikely to reduce in the present economic climate. We anticipate that carers will continue to feature prominently in the caseload for our Charity for the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
Bank Workers Charity provided personalised support to 5,876 members of the banking community in the 2024/25 financial year. The diversity of wellbeing issues we were asked to assist with was extraordinarily diverse. Nevertheless, the overall patterns of usage remain generally reflective of the kinds of concerns troubling the wider UK population. We will continue monitoring our data to identify changes in how clients make use of our resources and we will document what we see in future editions of this report.
