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Family Mosaic is now offering financial advice – previously only offered to tenants – to its own staff. Alex Reeve explains why
We’ve now witnessed almost a decade of austerity. Much has been written about the impact this has had on NHS and social care budgets, and the loss of services for vulnerable people living in our society.
Less attention has been given to the impact austerity has had on our social care workforce, many of whom need to work additional hours to supplement their basic living wage. Our staff are dedicated to their profession and work tirelessly supporting vulnerable people in our society.
“It’s clear to us that financial pressures can play a big part in poor mental health.”
Yet the economic and political climate has resulted in much public and political indifference to the financial pressures many of them face. We know that good staff with great values are forced to leave our services to find better paid work.
Despite our best efforts, the cuts to social care grants have forced us to make difficult salary reductions. The burgeoning housing crisis, coupled with rising costs of necessities like transport and childcare, have meant that our staff, like many others in the housing sector, are struggling to make ends meet.
Welfare reforms have also had a significant impact. Analysis by the University of Oxford indicate women’s average losses from 2010 to 2015 were twice that of men, due to direct tax and benefit changes. Our social care workforce is 77% female, so we can reasonably assume that austerity is having a particularly severe impact on our staff.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, in the UK one in seven people will experience mental health problems in the workplace. Women in full-time employment are nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as men (19.8% vs 10.9%).
So what can employers do to better support financial well-being?
From an employer’s perspective, it’s clear to us that financial pressures can play a big part in poor mental health. At Family Mosaic, personal and work-related stress absences have become the single biggest cause of sickness absence.
Yet housing associations are uniquely placed to support the mental well-being of staff by drawing on our expertise in these matters. Every day we provide support and advice to our residents and service users to help them to achieve financial stability. And it’s this support that we know staff can also benefit from regardless of which part of the business they’re in.
“One part of the solution has been to offer our staff the services we previously provided exclusively to our tenants.”
In 2014, Family Mosaic signed the Mindful Employer charter as part of our mental health strategy and made a commitment to invest in our staff’s mental well-being. This is a commitment the new Peabody organisation has agreed to invest in as we go through a process of merger and integration.
One part of the solution has been to offer our staff the services we previously provided exclusively to our tenants and service users. They included expert budgeting plans and money-saving advice. Our sustainability team have also helped staff to compare energy and utility contracts to help them save hundreds of pounds off their energy bills.
These are tried and tested strategies that we as social landlords are familiar with and have at our disposal.
Housing associations can also use their corporate buying power to negotiate a range of value benefits like discounts in large department stores, gym memberships and health insurance. At Family Mosaic all of these can be purchased through our salary sacrifice loan that allows employees to spreads payments over terms of up to 24 months, interest-free and in some instances tax-free. We also offer interest-free season ticket and rent deposit loans.
On 8 May we will be launching a programme of events for staff to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, including lunchtime surgeries about debt management and budgeting.
What is clear to me is that there is no single answer. There are, however, many practical solutions that employers can offer to support the financial well-being of their workforce. If housing associations want to remain progressive employers, particularly in the social care sector, then financial well-being must be a part of any workplace mental health strategy.
Alex Reeve, regional director (London care and supported housing), Family Mosaic