Financial anxiety is eroding US worker productivity

Nearly two-thirds of American workers are living with money-related anxiety, and the consequences are no longer confined to their personal finances.

TELUS Health's Q2 2026 Mental Health Index found that 64 percent of US workers experience financial anxiety, with 58 percent identifying the cost of living as their primary money concern. Fifteen percent say that financial stress is directly hurting their ability to perform at work; a figure that climbs sharply among specific groups.

Workers under 40 are three times more likely than those over 50 to report productivity losses tied to financial strain. Working parents are twice as likely to experience the same. And managers, often expected to model stability for their teams, are 60 percent more likely to see their own output suffer as a result of money worries.

"For the large majority of US workers, survival has eclipsed long-term planning," said Paula Allen, Global Leader of Research and Insights at TELUS Health. She noted that the combination of financial anxiety and inadequate employer support is generating real operational costs for organizations.

The findings arrive as financial stress continues to rise among American workers, a trend that has drawn increasing attention from benefits advisors and plan sponsors alike. The TELUS data adds weight to earlier signals that the problem is becoming structural rather than cyclical.

Gaps in savings and retirement literacy

The index surfaces two particularly concerning blind spots. Twenty-three percent of workers lack the emergency savings to cover basic needs, and those without a financial cushion are three times more likely to report productivity declines than their better-prepared peers.

Retirement plan literacy is also lagging with 46 percent of US workers saying they do not fully understand their workplace retirement plan.

These findings connect to a broader pattern that advisors serving corporate retirement clients have been tracking. Workplace plans are increasingly shouldering the burden as financial strain and coverage gaps persist across the workforce, placing greater pressure on plan sponsors to close education and engagement deficits.

Workers want more from employers

Demand for employer-provided financial resources is substantial. Forty-nine percent of workers say they actively want their employer to offer tools covering retirement, savings, and pension planning.

When asked to identify the topics they most need guidance on, workers pointed to retirement and long-term savings (29 percent), investing (21 percent), and workplace pension plans (20 percent).

Yet the provision of those resources remains uneven. As workers make clear they want financial help from employers and are ready to leave if they don't get it the business case for expanding financial wellness programs has rarely been stronger.

Mental health disclosure remains another friction point. Only 49 percent of workers feel comfortable telling their manager about a mental health issue.

Those who do not feel safe disclosing score 11.5 points lower on TELUS Health's mental health assessment. Workers who describe themselves as financially insecure score 25.9 points lower than those who feel secure — a gap that underscores just how tightly financial and psychological wellbeing are linked.

Sandwich generation stress

Twenty-seven percent of the workforce is currently providing financial support to adult children, aging parents, or other family members. It’s a demographic squeeze that compounds the pressure on workers who are already stretched thin by their own cost-of-living concerns.

The data reinforces a conversation that is moving from the margins to the center of client strategy: employee financial wellness is no longer a soft benefit. It is a measurable driver of retention, productivity, and organizational health.