Employees aren’t happy about the state of their finances.

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In fact, despite having improved for several years, employeefinancial wellness has lost substantial ground in many areas overthe last year—and the stress is showing.

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According to PwC’s Employee Financial Wellness Survey, whichtracks the financial well-being of full-time employed U.S. adultsacross the country, “many employees never fully regained stablefooting” after the Great Recession—and indeed are experiencingincreasing financial stress.

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Fifty-two percent indicate they are stressed about theirfinances and 45 percent say that their stress has increased overthe last 12 months.

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That’s not good news for employers, since financial stress takesa toll not just on employees but also on a company’s bottom line, via reducedproductivity, increased health issues with correspondingly higherhealth care costs and lost time at work.

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Employees lying awake at night trying to figure out how tostretch their paychecks further, or taking time out of the workdayto talk with creditors or even calculate how to divide that lastpaycheck aren’t at their peak, so it’s in employers’ best intereststo help worried employees do better at managing their availablefunds.

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Here are 10 financial issues contributing to that falling levelof employee financial wellness.

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Photo: AP

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10. Employees have increased financial responsibilities.

According to the survey, more employees are providing financialsupport for parents or in-laws, with 22 percent now financiallyresponsible—compared to 16 percent in 2015.

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Longer lifespans for a large aging population, many of whom lackadequate long-term health care protection, are combining to dumpthe financial responsibility for at least some of those costs ontothe next generation.

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9. Distraction at work is a big issue.

More than one in four employees—28 percent—say outright thatissues with personal finances have been a distraction at work;that’s up from 20 percent last year.

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And close to half—46 percent—of those who are distracted bytheir finances at work say that at work each week they spend threehours or more thinking about or dealing with issues related totheir personal finances. That’s up from 37 percent last year, andsomething that should be a concern for employers.

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Photo: Getty

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8. Emergency savings worries worse for women.

Neither men nor women are satisfied with the amount of emergencysavings they’ve managed to amass, with 55 percent overall saying socompared with 51 percent in 2015.

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But women have it worse; 60 percent say they don’t have enoughemergency savings set aside for unexpected expenses, compared with50 percent of men.

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7. Rising credit card balances hurt.

If there isn’t enough cash on hand, what’s to be done in anemergency? Turn to credit cards.

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And workers are increasingly doing so, with 43 percent ofemployees earning $100,000 or more consistently carrying balancesin 2016. In 2015, only 32 percent did.

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And among boomers, it’s worse: while in 2015 37 percent ofboomers carried balances on their credit cards, this year thatpercentage rose to 46 percent.

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Photo: AP

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6. Job loss would hit them hard.

Less than half—41 percent—of employees could manage to stayafloat on their basic expenses if they were out of work for anextended period of time. And while it’s not a huge decrease, that’sdown from 42 percent last year.

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Predictably, women, with lower pay and a harder time making endsmeet, would suffer more; only 36 percent of women say they couldkeep up with basic expenses without their jobs, while 45 percent ofmen said they could.

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5. They’re cutting spending—or trying to.

More than half (55 percent) of employees have changed theirspending behavior in the past 12 months in order to save money onday-to-day necessities. That’s up from 48 percent last year.

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In spite of this, they’re more financially stressed this yearthan last, which means that simply cutting spending isn’t resolvingtheir money woes.

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Part of that problem could be their homes, with 18 percent ofemployees who own homes and carry a mortgage saying that theoutstanding balance of their mortgage is greater than the currentvalue of their home.

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Of the 18 percent, 59 percent have attempted to modify the termsof their mortgage with their lenders (consistent with 60 percentlast year), 33 percent have received a foreclosure notice withinthe last 24 months (also 33 percent last year) and some areconsidering pursuing a foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, orshort sale to remedy their situation.

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Photo: AP

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4. Financial stress is the biggest source of stress in theirlives.

There are plenty of things to stress about, with respondentsciting health concerns (15 percent), their jobs (20 percent) andrelationships (15 percent), but no matter the generation workersbelonged to, financial stress/money matters topped the list, with45 percent saying it was their chief stressor.

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It’s also the biggest stressor for women, 49 percent of whom putit at the top of the list.

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Men did a bit better, with 41 percent saying that financialmatters cause them the most stress.

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3. Financial stress is worst for millennials.

In 2015, millennials outpaced GenXers to make up the largestshare of the workforce. But their financial wellness is worse thanthat of other generations.

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Not only do nearly half of full-time employed millennials findit tough to meet their monthly expenses, that generation is morelikely to be stressed about their finances and distracted by theirfinances while at work.

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In fact, 37 percent of millennials say they’re distracted byfinances at work, which is up from 22 percent last year.

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Photo: iStock

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2. Student loans make the problem worse.

Student loans have a large part to play in this gloomypicture.

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When compared with all other employees, those who say that theirstudent debt has a moderate or significant impact on their abilityto meet their financial goals experience higher stress (81 percent,compared with 46 percent); more difficulty meeting householdexpenses (65 percent, compared with 35 percent); greater use ofcredit cards to pay for monthly expenses they couldn’t otherwiseafford (41 percent, compared with 22 percent); are more likely tobe distracted at work due to their finances (50 percent, comparedwith 23 percent), and are more likely to raid their retirementfunds (57 percent, compared with 40 percent).

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1. Employees know their financial woes are causing problems inlots of areas.

Employees admit that financial worries have impacted theirhealth, relationships, productivity, and time away from work, with28 percent acknowledging hits on their health; 23 percent havingproblems with relationships at home; 17 percent pointing to workproductivity; and 8 percent saying they’ve occasionally missedwork.

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And four percent say financial worries are eating away at“other” aspects of their lives.

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