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Speaker 1: The number of people contributing to Kiwi Saver has declined

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Speaker 1: for the first time this year. Thirty percent of working

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Speaker 1: age key We Saver members are now not putting money

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Speaker 1: in now. That was only twenty percent fifteen years ago.

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Speaker 1: Samantha Barriss is the chief executive of the Financial Markets Authority. Hey, Samantha, Hi, Heather,

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Speaker 1: that seems to me like that would be directly linked

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Speaker 1: to the cost of living problem that we have at

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Speaker 1: the moment. Do you think it is.

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Speaker 2: It's certainly a very strong contributing factor. There are three

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Speaker 2: reasons why people aren't contributing even though they are of

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Speaker 2: working age. The first is one that's enduring, which is

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Speaker 2: those who take time out for parenting duties to be

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Speaker 2: with their children. But the other two are related to

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Speaker 2: the economic times. The first is they're unemployed, which increases

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Speaker 2: in difficult economic times, and the second is saving suspensions

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Speaker 2: when kiwis who are under in difficult circumstances are needing

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Speaker 2: to make choices between do they contribute to Keysaver, do

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Speaker 2: they put food on the table, do they pay them

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Speaker 2: more gifts? Do they get the car fixed? So, though

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Speaker 2: you know other other reasons so directly related to the

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Speaker 2: difficult economic times.

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Speaker 1: Once people opt out, though, do they do they even

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Speaker 1: necessarily come back in.

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Speaker 2: The challenge. And this is something that the kisaver providers

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Speaker 2: need to really lean into, but we all need to

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Speaker 2: lean into it as well. Is to go back to

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Speaker 2: those who have suspended their contributions on a regular basis

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Speaker 2: and encourage them, encourage them to increase the contributions that

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Speaker 2: they are or to kind of go back in and

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Speaker 2: start contributing again. And that is that that's a very

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Speaker 2: important flex point. So yes, Kiwi Savor has been built

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Speaker 2: to withstand the longer term ups and downs in the

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Speaker 2: economic cycle. The critical point is that you're coming out

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Speaker 2: of a down cycle to be communicating really regularly with

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Speaker 2: your members to encourage them to come back into it again.

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Speaker 1: Samantha, thank you so much, Samantha Barris, chief executive of

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Speaker 1: the FMA. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen

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Speaker 1: live to News Talks it B from four pm weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.