The Money and Pensions Service (Maps) has launched its 10-year financial wellbeing strategy, which includes the aim of getting five million more workers saving for later life.

As well as its plans to get 28.6 million people understanding how to plan for their retirement by 2030, five million more than currently, Maps’ UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing sets out four more “agendas for change”.

By the end of the decade, Maps said it wanted 6.8 million children and young people to get a meaningful financial education, and to increase the number of working-age people who regularly put money into savings.

The organisation’s other goals were ensuring two million more people get the debt advice they need and reducing the number of people relying on credit to pay for food and bills by two million.

Maps will also examine factors that make people susceptible to financial hardship, including mental health conditions and gender.

The organisation said the new strategy was needed to “transform the lives of many individuals, benefitting communities, businesses, the economy and wider society”.

According to Maps, 22 million people said they didn’t know enough to prepare for their retirement.

Nine million people use credit to pay for food and bills, 11.5 million had less than £100 in savings and over five million children are not receiving any meaningful financial education, it also stated.

Maps pointed out that a more financially stable population would improve productivity at work, see businesses benefit from having more customers who can afford their services and allow the wider economy to benefit from people investing in pensions.

Maps acting chief executive, Caroline Siarkiewicz, said: “Maps will be the catalyst for a financial wellbeing movement, transforming how people engage with their money and pensions. We have a decade to make a difference and we cannot achieve change alone, so we will be connecting companies, charities and other organisations which share our vision, to make this happen.”

Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, Guy Opperman, added: “The government wants to make it easy for those who need it most to get help to make confident financial choices. The one-stop-shop Maps’ free, high-quality, impartial information and guidance delivers exactly that.

“Also, it has an important part to play in helping today’s young people become tomorrow’s savvy savers, and the development of ground-breaking digital pensions dashboards, which will transform how all of us plan for retirement.”

Over the first half of 2020, Maps will work with representatives from the private, public and voluntary sectors to set out specific delivery plans for its five goals in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, before moving to develop its own corporate strategy.

Maps is an arm’s-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions that engages with the Treasury on policy matters and offers free financial guidance to the public.

It was formed in January 2019 by the merging of The Pensions Advisory Service, Pension Wise and the Money Advice Service, though the decision to combine the organisations was announced in March 2016.

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