In the next of our reflections from the Fair4All Finance Conference Rachel Gregory, Head of Policy Consulting, WPI Economics, shares her thoughts on the ‘Building personal resilience and driving growth through short and long term saving’ panel discussion.

At Fair4All’s Financial Inclusion Conference last month, I chaired a discussion on how to support households to save — vital both for personal resilience and for driving wider economic growth. Since then, the UK Government has published its National Financial Inclusion Strategy alongside the latest Budget, underlining how urgent this conversation remains.

Savings are the cornerstone of financial wellbeing. They help people cope with emergencies, plan for life goals, and prepare for retirement. Yet 8.7 million people in the UK have less than £100 saved, and one in three adults with a Defined Contribution pension has under £10,000 for retirement. This leaves millions without a safety net and weakens the UK’s economic resilience.

Why Savings Matter for Growth

Our recent report for Fair4All Finance, Financial inclusion and growth, showed that financial inclusion is not just a social good but a driver of growth. The report identified a £6.4 billion opportunity to boost annual GDP by expanding access to financial products and services—helping people become more resilient, productive, and able to contribute fully to the economy.

Savings play a dual role:

• By directly creating more investment capacity: Short-term savings build the foundation for long-term savings, fuelling investment. Opt-out workplace schemes, modelled on pension auto-enrolment, could add £2.7 billion in short-term savings in year one and deliver £110 million in additional economic output.
• By supporting people to more actively participate in the economy: Financial resilience reduces stress and absenteeism. UK workers lose 16 million workdays annually due to financial concerns. Improving savings rates could add £5 billion to GDP through higher productivity.

The question is how do we realise these gains?

I was joined on the panel by two people with deep insight and experience on this subject. Jo Phillips, Director of Policy Research and Innovation at Nest Insight and Karen Bennet CBE, CEO at Enterprise Credit Union to discuss just this.

We started with the size of the challenge. Over the past 5 years, COVID and the cost of living crisis has put pressure on household budgets – that makes saving for many more of a challenge than ever. Yet, there are success stories. 

Nest Insight’s workplace savings trials have pioneered opt-out models and shown how when saving is made easy and automatic, people do engage – even those on lower incomes. Small, regular contributions quickly build into meaningful emergency funds. Importantly, participants reported feeling more confident and less stressed about unexpected expenses. Jo emphasised that opt-out savings could replicate the success of pension auto-enrolment, but with a focus on short-term resilience. She highlighted the importance of employer involvement, noting that workplace schemes are uniquely positioned to reach millions who otherwise struggle to save. 

Karen brought her frontline experience of supporting low-income families. For many members, saving feels impossible when every penny is stretched. That’s why their save-to-borrow model is so powerful. By linking small savings contributions to loan repayments, families begin to build a cushion—even while managing debt. Over time, those savings grow, and members gain confidence in their financial future. They are now exploring ways to reach more young people – which needs a different approach.

This highlights that people face different circumstances when it comes to saving — from levels of awareness, to appetite for putting money aside, to the practical ability to do so. These differences mean that one-size-fits-all solutions won’t work; we need tailored approaches that meet people where they are and help them save in ways that fit their lives. The panel also noted that collaboration across the financial services sector, alongside expanding schemes like Help to Save, could play a vital role in supporting families to build resilience.

Looking Forward: Scaling Solutions

The challenge now is scale. To reach more people, we need:

• Cross-sector collaboration: Employers, credit unions, banks, and government working together to embed savings opportunities – there’s a role for all of us to play.
• Youth engagement: Encouraging younger people to save early, whether through workplace schemes, credit unions, or high street banks – to break the cycle and build savings habits early.
• Innovation: Building on opt-out savings, and exploring new models and digital tools to make saving effortless and rewarding – creating a range of solutions so there’s something that works for everyone.

Our discussion took place just before the launch of the UK’s Financial Inclusion Strategy. It is encouraging to see the strategy prioritise workplace savings, expanding Help to Save, and championing cross-sector approaches. But the scale of the challenge demands bold action.

Savings are not just about individual security—they are about national prosperity. By enabling more people to save, we strengthen resilience, reduce stress, and unlock billions in economic growth. The evidence is clear, the models are proven, and the need is urgent. Now is the time to act boldly and scale solutions that work.