Royal London is launching a £1.5m programme working with 10 social enterprises aimed at building financial resilience.
The launch follows research from the mutual insurer which reveals a dramatic rise in the number of people who feel financially vulnerable.
The research showed 30% of those surveyed felt more financially vulnerable than they did in March 2020.
Of those, one third (33%) cited a reduced income and almost one in five (19%) pointed to a lack of savings to fall back on in the pandemic. Other reasons included taking on more debt (13%), and not being able to afford their living costs (11%).
When thinking about the future and ability to respond financially to a change in life circumstances, just one in six (16%) said they felt very financially resilient, with men (20%) more likely to say this than women (12%).
£1.5m commitment
As a result, Royal London said it was launching its Changemakers programme and committing £1.5m over three years to support social enterprises that have created bold and innovative ideas to improve resilience and protect against life shocks, such as illness, divorce or change in income.
The mutual revealed it has worked with the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) to identify 10 social enterprises.
They are: Flank, Page & Bloom, The Growing Club CIC, Before I Go Solutions, Breadwinners, Money A+E, Pocket Power, Jobs for Family Carers, Easy As 123 Limited and Rosetinted Financial Services C.I.C.
Royal London head of financial capability Sarah Pennells said: “We know that the pandemic has affected millions of people’s financial resilience and that’s why investing in these inspiring changemakers is so important.
“Each social enterprise has either direct lived experience, or experience by association, of the problem they’re trying to solve and this comes with the passion to make a difference.
“We believe these social enterprises can create real change and innovation is at the heart of it. We are delighted to support people who are looking at new ways of improving financial resilience.”
CJ Tayeh, founder of Flank, which supports young adults on low income to repay debts owed to friends and family, added: “The biggest myth around financial insecurity is that it manifests in exclusively financial terms.
“When you immerse yourself in the lives of those struggling to pay their bills or buy groceries, you realise they are also struggling with their mental health, with job prospects, with nutrition to name a few. This means that financial intervention is rarely enough.
“My experience with young people living in social housing and temporary accommodation showed me that financial support needs to be embedded in socio-emotional support. Flank deploys these insights with trauma-informed design and AI technology to provide fairer, kinder credit for everyone.”