The Effect of an Emergency Savings Program on Employee Savings and Work Performance: A Two-Year Field Intervention

Abstract

Financial precarity—the persistent worry about one’s financial situation—can have detrimental effects on individuals’ cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. It can also interfere with work performance. The authors report on a two-year field intervention aimed at addressing financial precarity through the implementation of an employee emergency savings program. The program was employer-sponsored but required voluntary employee participation in the form of a weekly payroll deduction. Results showed that program participants accrued more in emergency savings than non-participants, and that for more financially precarious employees, participation in the program was associated with improved work performance. Supplemental analysis showed that participation in the program, and the enhanced savings associated with it, buffered employees from financial shocks that might otherwise have interfered with their performance at work. Thus, the program offered benefits to employees in the form of enhanced short-term savings, and to the employer in the form of enhanced work performance. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for employee financial wellness initiatives.