Industry research suggests that many U.S. households never fully recovered from the Great Recession and that widespread financial insecurity defies income, age, gender or marital status. But workplace remedies are being touted to help reinforce the nation’s tattered safety net.

“Despite the fact that the economy is turning around and more people are employed, employees still feel financially stressed and are spending time at work dealing with their personal finances,” reports Elizabeth Halkos, Chief Revenue Officer at Purchasing Power.

The company, a specialty e-retailer offering U.S. employees the opportunity to purchase consumer products and services through their workplace, recently commissioned another annual Harris poll on the topic of voluntary benefits and published an eBook on their findings.

The number of working Americans who have experienced varying degrees of financial stress was relatively steady between 2013 and 2014, according to the Harris poll. Those reporting “a great deal of stress” fell slightly to 18% this year from 19% the previous year, while those who described it as “a fair amount” fell to 20% from 22% and those who admitted to “some stress” decreased to 42% from 46%.¹

However, the research found a 17% increase in the amount of time survey respondents dealt with personal-finance issues at work within the past year, which rose from 28% to 33%. Employees spend 1.7 hours per week on average, or nearly eight hours a month, on these issues while in the office.²

In addition to conducting a Harris poll, Purchasing Power conducted additional third-party research to interview a cross section of working Americans about their finances and workplace benefits. Some of the findings were surprising. Even seemingly “well-off” employees were found to be struggling financially.

For example, a married couple living within its means noted that they sometimes find themselves making minimum payments on their credit cards. Both are baby boomers who had lost their jobs in the recession at the same time and are still making up for their losses despite now earning more than $150,000. They also face additional challenges down the road as their two high school kids begin looking at colleges and cars.

The interviews revealed that individuals are equally worried about their short-term and long-term financial needs. “We found that everyone was concerned about their retirement, even younger employees who were interviewed,” Halkos says. “And for those who are still living paycheck to paycheck, of course, they’re not putting anything toward their retirement.”

Fix for financing

Payroll deduction is emerging as a powerful tool to help employees plan important purchases in the face of financial insecurity. Halkos says what’s most valuable about both traditional and nontraditional voluntary benefits is how they can be customized to each individual’s unique needs and desires, offering additional layers of financial protection that supplement core coverages.

“We believe that traditional financing is failing many consumers,” she says, and it’s across the income spectrum. Consider, for instance, that nearly half of Purchasing Power customers have an estimated household income between $50,000 to $100,000.

“The credit system can be unfair and has flattened individuals into just a number,” she observes, noting that as many as 65% of working Americans don’t qualify for prime credit.³ “Those employees with less than stellar credit don’t get to tell their story or say, ‘Well, I experienced a loss or a job loss, and I couldn’t pay off that credit card,’ or, ‘I had to charge things that normally I wouldn’t have charged.’”

Even responsible employees who can demonstrate gainful employment over time cannot escape high financing on store credit cards with variable interest rates. And that’s why Purchasing Power has sought to change the way people look at credit. They offer a workplace benefit that allows employees to deduct the cost of appliances, computers, personal electronics and other big-ticket items from their paycheck, rather than struggle to establish or maintain good credit.

“Payroll deduction is particularly beneficial to people who don’t necessarily have the ability to budget for important purchases,” Halkos says. It’s also appealing to people who are underserved or not served by banks, don’t have debit cards, can’t make online payments and tend to use check-cashing places, or write and mail out checks.

The value of workplace voluntary benefits is increasing because of healthcare reform. “We strongly believe that voluntary benefits can help fill in any gaps that are being made by cuts or changes to medical care under the ACA and help reduce stress,” Halkos says. Even more, as different generations have different benefit needs, voluntary benefits are a great way to provide coverage to a diverse workforce.

Bruce Shutan is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.

¹ 2014 Harris Poll, sponsored by Purchasing Power; n=1065 respondents
² 2014 Harris Poll, sponsored by Purchasing Power; n=1065 respondents
³ National Foundation for Credit Counseling 2013 Financial Literacy Survey