Financial wellbeing index^TM report January 2021

The financial wellbeing of a population is essential to overall wellbeing and work productivity. The Financial Wellbeing Index™ provides a measure of the current financial health status of employed adults in Canada, compared to the benchmark data collected in 2019. Financial wellbeing is defined by the knowledge, behaviours, and perceptions of individuals relative to their personal financial situation. It includes a measure of financial risk but is much broader.

The full report includes:

• The overall Financial Wellbeing™ (FWI), which is a measure of deviation from the pre-2020 benchmark of financial wellbeing
• Knowledge, Behaviour, and Perception sub-scales, which inform specific areas of financial wellbeing. The impact of finances on productivity, which is included to understand the effects of personal finances on the workplace
• Financial Change and Financial Concern Change, which measure changes when compared to the prior period
• A spotlight section that reflects the specific impact of current issues

The Financial Wellbeing Index™ is published quarterly.

January 2021 Highlights

• The overall Financial Wellbeing Index™ for January is -2.8 points. This Index represents the deviation from the pre-2020 benchmark
• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, fourteen per cent of working Canadians are educating themselves more on financial matters
• Almost twice as many individuals (27 per cent) indicate that they are doing worse in terms of their financial situation, compared to 15 per cent who indicate that they are doing better
• More than one in five (22 per cent) indicate that their financial situation is currently impacting their work productivity.