2026 Report
Your lowest earners are struggling. So are your highest earners. The 2026 Elephant Report uncovers how financial stress is showing up across every pay band, why salary is the wrong way to spot it, and why the people who need help are the least likely to ask for it.
Tell us where to send it.
From the £30k earner without a safety net to the £100k+ earner carrying debt, this year's research shows money stress doesn't care about job titles. Here's what's really happening in your workforce, and why nobody's talking about it.
Why salary tells you what people earn, but not whether they're okay.
Go to section ↓How financial stress shows up as bad days, bad decisions and resignations.
Go to section ↓Why the people who need help most are the least likely to say so.
Go to section ↓Most financial wellbeing programmes point down the payslip, on the assumption that the more someone earns, the less they worry. The data tells a different story. The same number appears at completely opposite ends of the pay scale.
Employees earning under £40k
53% of employees earning under £40k say they're just managing, tight or struggling.
Employees earning £100k+
53% of employees earning £100k+ have no emergency fund, are living on credit or are behind on a bill.
Financial stress rarely looks like financial stress. It looks like a sleepless night, a distracted meeting or a Wednesday off. And among senior people, it doesn't just cost output, it costs judgement. Here's how money worries are showing up at work for your highest earners.
% of employees earning £100k+
People will admit to burnout. They'll admit to being overwhelmed. Money is different. 58% of £100k+ earners say their seniority makes it harder to admit they're struggling, and only 20% of employers have ever formally asked their people about financial wellbeing. The result? Silence that looks a lot like everything's fine.
"The higher you climb, the more it costs to say you're struggling. I've sat in board meetings doing mental maths on my mortgage and smiled through the whole thing. Nobody there would have guessed."Finance director, public sector