Employee Financial Stress Statistics in Australia 2026
- Only 34% of working Australians describe themselves as financially secure
- Financially stressed Australians report high psychological distress at 2.6 times the rate
- Around 40% of people contacting the National Debt Helpline are employed
- 37% of employees say their employer has not done enough on cost of living
- Financial stress drives absence, presenteeism, distraction and turnover intent
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Employee financial stress is the strain workers carry when they cannot meet regular expenses or absorb an unexpected cost. It does not stay at home. It shows up as distraction, absence, error rates and resignations.
This roundup collects the Australian statistics on employee financial stress, grouped by theme, with every figure referenced and every overseas source labelled.
How many Australian employees are financially stressed?
Two in three working Australians report some level of financial stress, and the national rate has been climbing since interest rates rose in 2022.
- Only 34% of working Australians describe themselves as financially secure, the lowest reading in a decade [1]
- 42% report mild financial stress, 15% moderate and 8% severe [1]
- HILDA data shows financial stress rose from 11% of people in 2022 to 13% in 2023 [3]
- That 2023 figure matches the post-GFC peak of 13% recorded in 2011 [3]
- One in four Australian households (25.3%) had a cash flow problem in 2025, up from 20.7% in 2020 [4]
- Around 40% of people contacting the National Debt Helpline in 2025-26 were employed [5]
- 35% of Australians said dealing with money was stressful and overwhelming, rising to 41% of women [7]
These figures sit underneath the broader workplace stress statistics most organisations already monitor.
Which employees are most affected?
Financial stress concentrates among renters, single parents, women and workers with a long-term mental health condition.
- 30% of unemployed people experienced financial stress in 2023, the highest rate of any group [3]
- 29% of single parents with dependants reported financial stress, rising to 31% of single mothers [3]
- 25% of renters reported financial stress, against far lower rates for outright owners [3]
- 32% of people with a long-term mental health condition reported financial stress, double the rate for other conditions [3]
- 45% of people with both parenting responsibilities and a long-term mental health condition reported financial stress [3]
- Women consistently report higher financial stress than men across the full HILDA series [3]
- On ANZ's 100-point financial wellbeing scale, men average 61 and women 57 [8]
- 30% of Australian employees have taken a second job or extra shifts to cope with cost-of-living pressure [10]
Renters and single parents are also overrepresented in psychological injury claims data.
How does financial stress affect employee mental health?
Financially stressed Australians report psychological distress at more than twice the rate of everyone else, and the relationship runs in both directions.
- 55% of financially stressed people reported high or very high psychological distress in 2023 [3]
- That is approximately 2.6 times the rate among people not experiencing financial stress [3]
- 40% of financially stressed people reported poor mental health, against 16% of those not stressed [3]
- 36% of financially stressed people reported a depression or anxiety diagnosis, against 16% [3]
- 27% of people reporting poor mental health also experienced financial stress [3]
- 56% of unemployed people experiencing financial stress reported poor mental health [3]
- 47% of renters and 45% of single parents experiencing financial stress reported poor mental health [3]
Insecure work appears across most published psychosocial hazard examples.
What does employee financial stress cost in productivity?
Financial worry consumes working hours, and it arrives as presenteeism far more often than as absence.
- 39% of Australians say they spend two or more hours during the working week thinking about their finances [6]
- Those two lost hours equate to over $4,000 per employee per year at average hourly wages [6]
- AMP estimated financial stress costs the Australian economy $66.8 billion a year in lost productivity [2]
- Financially stressed workers lose an estimated 12 hours a week to reduced productivity at work [2]
- Australian employers rank stress (61%) and disengagement or distraction (43%) as the top effects of poor financial wellness [6]
- Low morale (30%), poor overall health (23%) and absenteeism (16%) follow [6]
- International comparison: 76% of financially stressed UK employees say it has negatively affected their work [14]
- International comparison: 33% of UK workers noticed a decline in productivity when experiencing financial worry [13]
This is fundamentally a presenteeism problem, and it compounds the wider cost of poor mental health at work.
Does financial stress drive turnover?
Financially stressed employees are measurably more likely to leave, and many are already restructuring their working lives to chase income.
- EY research attributed 20% of employee turnover to financial stress [12]
- 1 in 10 Australian workers has accepted a lower-salary role or gone freelance hoping to earn more [10]
- 1 in 7 has restructured their pay arrangements to boost take-home income [10]
- 50% of Australian employees experienced a lot of stress the previous day, against a 40% global average [11]
- International comparison: 73% of financially stressed employees would be drawn to an employer that cares more about financial wellbeing [13]
- International comparison: 83% of employees say they would be more likely to stay with an employer offering financial wellness programmes [13]
The knock-on effects are covered in our employee turnover statistics.
Where are employers falling short?
Most Australian workers do not feel their employer has responded to cost-of-living pressure, and very few employers offer any financial wellbeing support.
- 37% of employees say their employer has not done enough to support them through the cost-of-living crisis [10]
- More than a third do not feel supported by their employer in managing everyday expenses [10]
- Only 24% of employees strongly agree that their organisation cares about their wellbeing [11]
- Only 13% of Australian employers offer any type of financial wellbeing service [6]
- Only 1 in 20 severely or moderately stressed Australians is seeing a financial adviser [1]
- 1 in 9 has spoken to their superannuation fund about financial worries [1]
Regular wellbeing check-ins are one of the few mechanisms that surface this before it escalates.
The bottom line
Australian employee financial stress has risen on every measured indicator since 2022, and the mental health evidence is consistent across HILDA, AMP and AIHW analysis. Financially stressed workers are more distressed, less productive and more likely to leave.
The gap is not awareness. It is provision. With only 13% of employers offering any financial wellbeing support, building it into existing workplace wellbeing initiatives is the practical first move.
FAQs
How many Australian employees are financially stressed?
Only 34% of working Australians describe themselves as financially secure. AMP's most recent Financial Wellness Report found 42% experiencing mild financial stress, 15% moderate and 8% severe. Separate HILDA analysis by the AIHW put the population-wide financial stress rate at 13% in 2023, up from 11% the year before.
How does financial stress affect employee mental health?
Financially stressed Australians report high or very high psychological distress at around 2.6 times the rate of everyone else. In 2023, 55% of financially stressed people fell into that category. They were also 2.5 times more likely to report poor mental health, at 40% against 16%.
What does employee financial stress cost employers?
AMP estimated the national productivity cost at $66.8 billion a year. At the individual level, 39% of Australians spend two or more hours of the working week thinking about their finances, which works out to more than $4,000 per employee annually at average wages. Employers report stress, disengagement, low morale and absence as the main effects.
Which employees are most at risk of financial stress?
Unemployed people (30%), single parents with dependants (29%) and renters (25%) reported the highest rates in 2023. Women consistently report more financial stress than men. Workers with a long-term mental health condition are at particular risk, with 32% reporting financial stress, roughly double the rate for other long-term conditions.
Is employee financial stress a psychosocial hazard?
Personal financial stress is not classified as a psychosocial hazard on its own. It becomes an employer obligation where work design contributes to it, through insecure or unpredictable hours, low job control, underpayment or payroll errors. Those factors are recognised hazards under a PCBU's duty to manage psychosocial risk.
What can employers do about financial stress?
Practical options include salary transparency and regular benchmarking, salary packaging and pre-tax benefits, access to financial education or counselling, and an EAP that covers financial wellbeing. Manager training matters too, since most employees never raise money pressure directly and it surfaces instead as absence or performance change.
Foremind helps Australian organisations meet their psychosocial duties and support staff when pressures outside work start showing up inside it. Learn more about Foremind.
References
- AMP, Financial Wellness Report 2024, as reported by Money Management, 9 October 2024.
- AMP, 2022 Financial Wellness Report, August 2022.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Financial stress and mental health, last updated 2 December 2025, drawing on the HILDA Survey waves 1 to 23.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2025, released May 2026.
- Financial Counselling Australia, National Debt Helpline end of financial year release, July 2026, and ABC News, 1 August 2026.
- Money101 and NGS Super, Australia: a wealthy nation, feeling unwell, 2022, citing Map My Plan Financial Index Report 2015 and Direct Health Solutions absence data.
- ASIC, Australian Financial Attitudes and Behaviour Tracker, Report 481.
- ANZ, Financial Wellbeing: a survey of adults in Australia, April 2018.
- Mortgage Choice and CoreData, Financial Fitness whitepaper, February 2019.
- Perkbox, Beyond the Paycheck: Cracking Australia's Toughest Talent Challenges in 2025.
- Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: Australia country-level data, April 2026.
- EY research cited by Wagestream Australia, Human Resources Director, August 2022.
- PwC, Employee Financial Wellness Survey, and Prudential, 2018. United States data.
- Zellis, Employee Financial Wellbeing research, 2023. United Kingdom data.
Answers to the frequently asked questions.
Our last EAP was barely touched. Why would this be different?+
Most EAPs go unused because of how they're accessed, not because staff don't need them. Phoning a stranger, explaining yourself, then waiting weeks is enough to stop most people before they start. Foremind removes all three steps: staff see real counsellor profiles, pick someone themselves, and book the same day.
If you already have a provider, the question worth asking is what your current utilisation is. Most traditional EAPs sit in low single digits, which means you're paying for cover your people aren't reaching. If yours is being used, staff can get seen quickly, and it covers your psychosocial obligations, there's no reason to move. If not, it's worth knowing what you're getting for the spend.
Do you offer 24/7 support?+
Yes. A 24/7 after-hours crisis line means staff can reach someone immediately at any hour, including nights and weekends.
Counselling appointments are also available outside standard business hours, so shift-based and on-call teams aren't limited to a nine-to-five window. Those are two different things, and it's worth checking any provider offers both rather than just the crisis line.
Are your EAP counsellors based in Australia?+
Yes. Every practitioner on the platform holds current membership with an Australian professional body and practises under Australian standards, codes of ethics and disciplinary frameworks. There are no offshore call centres.
Practitioners hold membership with the Australian Counselling Association, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, or the Australian Association of Social Workers, along with a current Working with Children or Vulnerable People Check.
How much does an EAP cost?+
Pricing is usually per employee per month, based on total headcount rather than how many people use the service. Costs vary widely depending on whether sessions are bundled in and whether compliance tooling is included.
A more useful comparison is cost per employee who actually uses it. An EAP with 2% utilisation can work out several times more expensive per person helped than one that gets used. Foremind offers pay-as-you-go, inclusive session plans and compliance-inclusive plans, with discounted pricing for not-for-profits and charities.
For full breakdown of our plans, see our EAP pricing page or request a quote for a tailored proposal.
What information does an employer receive about EAP usage?+
Nothing that could identify anyone. All counselling is completely confidential and all reporting is anonymous - you'll never see who booked, when, or what was discussed.
What you do see is the aggregated picture: how many people are using it, what psychosocial risks are prevalent in the business, and which teams are under pressure. Enough to know the investment is working and where to act, never enough to identify a person. Reporting thresholds mean small teams can't be reverse-engineered from the data.
Does having an EAP meet an employer's psychosocial duty of care?+
No. An EAP is a control measure, and a valuable one, but it only addresses harm after it has occurred. It doesn't identify hazards, assess risk, or evidence that controls are working.
Australian WHS law requires you to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risk, control it so far as is reasonably practicable, and review whether those controls are working — with documented evidence at each step. Offering counselling on its own leaves three of those four steps undocumented.
Foremind covers both in one platform. See how the compliance side works in our product tour.