The Fairbanking Foundation launches new Covid-19 impact research project
The Fairbanking Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of a new research project to look at the needs for information and financial guidance amongst people experiencing personal financial difficulties for the first time in their lives as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Generously supported by FIS, a leading global provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms, the research will be undertaken by University College London and led by Professor Ivo Vlaev. Launching in July 2021 we expect to be reporting findings in the Autumn.
The Covid-19 crisis has clearly had a serious impact on UK citizens in many areas of their lives, and could have enduring impacts on consumers’ financial well-being. For a lot of people there has been a negative on their personal finances, including people who have lost their jobs or livelihoods, been put on furlough, had their working hours reduced, faced pay cuts or generally lost a source of income (Fox & Bartholomae, 2020, Household finances, financial planning, and COVID‐19 (wiley.com) ).
A recent survey by StepChange found that due to Covid-19, 1.2 million people in the UK are now seriously in debt, 5.6 million have fallen into arrears and have had to borrow money, which for many makes their situation even worse as it further delays their financial problems. The crisis also affects groups who had never faced financial difficulties before, such as young adults who have just completed their education and no longer have access to family support, and families with dependent children who faced an income gap as well as additional childcare costs, among others (StepChange, 2020 Research into UK personal debt trends: StepChange ).
As these groups have only recently started to experience financial problems, they may have changed their financial decision-making behaviour, and may face specific barriers in seeking help. The aim of a new research project by The Fairbanking Foundation is to find out more about the financial decision-making patterns of those people who are experiencing financial difficulties for the first time in their lives as a result of Covid-19. We want to identify barriers and facilitators to them seeking help and advice. The research therefore aims to identify what would be most effective in terms of targeted decision-making advice and encouragement to those who are newly experiencing financial difficulties and have never sought help before, so that they can be encouraged to actively seek help in the form of contacting their lenders or using debt advice services. A quantitative survey will form part of the research which will be supervised by a leading academic in behavioural economics, Professor Ivo Vlaev. The Fairbanking Foundation is also working closely with The Money and Pensions Service (The Money and Pensions Service | Building financial wellbeing) who have indicated their interest in this research informing their approach to assisting this group of consumers.
For further information about the study, or simply to be kept informed of the results please Contact Us
