Financial security
Financial security is having enough money to comfortably meet your needs, plan for the future, have a good quality of life, and be able cope with unexpected expenses.
Financial security means people are able to make better choices about the way they live their lives and improve theirs and their family’s prospects.
The current cost of living pressures, the Covid 19 pandemic and rising housing costs particularly over the past 10 years have pushed more people in South Gloucestershire into financial insecurity.
Not everyone who is struggling financially meets the threshold for means tested benefits.
As a result we are seeing increased demand for emergency financial support through the Household Support Fund and more use of our community welcome spaces.
Key data on the situation in South Gloucestershire is available on our financial security dashboard.
Why financial security matters
Not being able to meet basic needs and not having a good quality of life can affect physical, social, and emotional health in the short and long term.
Children and adults in low-income households are more likely to:
- have poorer educational outcomes leading to lower paid work
- have a shorter life expectancy
- live in areas more impacted by poor air quality
- live in poor quality housing
- be an unhealthy weight
- develop preventable long-term health conditions
The impact of rising financial costs and pressures is disproportionately felt by households who are already struggling, and those who are ‘just about managing’.
These are individuals and families who have already had to review their finances or change their spending habits and will likely still struggle once the current economic crisis improves unless measures are taken to help build resilience.
South Gloucestershire Financial Wellbeing Framework
We have developed a Financial Wellbeing Framework to:
- identify priority areas for action
- enable us and our partners to deliver financial support to those who are struggling
- promote financial wellbeing by joining efforts together and sharing resources
View the South Gloucestershire Financial Wellbeing Framework