, a matched savings and financial education program developed by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL) and ANZ, reported an increase in enrolments in 2020, in the midst of widespread job losses. The program which assists families and individuals on low incomes, reported a spike from the July to September quarter, with more than 3,400 Australians joining the program over the year.
Dan Crotty, National Manager of the Saver Plus program, saw savings habits increase during the pandemic, despite economic hardships felt by many of the program participants.
"Due to the severity of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, we provided our participants an opportunity to withdraw from the program and we were delighted to find that 97% opted to stay in the program," Mr Crotty said. "Many reported the savings habits they learned in Saver Plus helped them be prepared for unexpected events, such as COVID-19."
Kiara, single mother of two, lost her part-time teacher's aide job last year when the school she worked at shut down due to COVID-19. She had enrolled in the Saver Plus program in February 2020: "The fact that I knew that I had savings, meant I didn't have to stress about losing work. In the past, I struggled when the start of the school year arrived, because every year the kids grow, they need new uniforms or laptops. I didn't want them to be the kid that has nothing."
After completing the Saver Plus program in November 2020, Kiara says this is the first year she's not been stressed about paying for her children's back-to-school costs: "I'm excited to take them shopping. It's a good feeling knowing I can do this and that my kids are going to be okay when they go back to school." See more on Kiara's story below.
Saver Plus teaches participants how to set and achieve an education related savings goal. After successfully making regular deposits into a savings account over a 10-month period, participants are awarded up to $500 in matched savings from ANZ. Parents must use the $500 bonus towards items for their children's education, such as laptops, uniforms, shoes, backpacks, and stationery.
Shreya Dutt, Saver Plus Lead at ANZ, says the quick shift to remote schooling across the country meant some families didn't have adequate technology equipment and this was reflected in how matched savings from Saver Plus were used.
"ANZ matched more than $1.4m in savings for Saver Plus participants in 2020, and around 70% of those savings were used to buy laptops for schooling needs. It was great to see that our program was able to provide families a savings path that ensured their kids had the technology needed to allow them to access remote schooling needs."
