The Credit Union has welcomed a new 10-year strategy from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to improve financial wellbeing in the UK.
According to MaPS, 11.5 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings to fall back on, while nine million people often use credit cards and payday loans to meet essential weekly food and energy bills.
MaPS has set out its ten-year plan to improve millions of lives, promising that, by 2030, an extra two million people will be saving regularly, and two million fewer will be using credit cards for daily spending.
Chief Executive of the Money and Pensions Service Caroline Siarkiewicz said: “Financial wellbeing underpins personal health and happiness, but it doesn’t happen by chance. We’re launching a strategy for entire lifetimes, aiming to expand financial education for children while ensuring everyone is equipped to plan for and enjoy their retirement.
“We have a decade to make a difference and we cannot achieve change alone, so we will be connecting companies, charities and other organisations which share our vision, to make this happen.”
Martin Groombridge, Chief Executive of the Credit Union, said: “We welcome this new strategy to improve the financial wellbeing of people in this country. Key initiatives identified in the strategy, which Credit Unions are well-placed to help deliver, include encouraging people to save more, increasing the availability of affordable credit and introducing more payroll savings products.
“Credit unions like ours have a track record of helping people to save and improve their financial resilience, and we play a vital role in communities by helping our members become financially responsible.”
Delivering the strategy will transform the lives of millions of individuals, benefitting communities, businesses, the economy and wider society. Click here to find out more and to download the strategy.
