This brief identifies policy solutions to help American families build savings to withstand emergencies that threaten their financial...
This brief discusses the savings penalties in public assistance programs in the United States, also known as asset limits, and that actions that can be taken to eliminate these limits and the barriers towards building savings for families living on low...
This report examines data from the Federal Reserve System’s 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances to understand how the wealth of median Black, Latino and White families have changed since the findings of its previous survey were released in...
This report discusses the interactions between finances and mental health, based on the experience of over 5000 individuals who have lived with mental health problems. Mental health problems leading to relationship difficulties, physical health problems, mental health treatments, cognitive...
This report builds on previous work on financial resilience in Australia and represents the beginning of an exploration of the financial resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Overall, we found significant economic disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians....
Firms and representatives in the financial services industry occasionally encounter situations where a client’s vulnerability causes the client to make decisions that are contrary to his or her financial interests, needs or objectives or that leave him or her exposed to potential financial...
How has the Vibrant Communities – Cities Reducing Poverty (VC – CRP) network contributed to poverty reduction in Canada? In seeking to answer this central question, the State of Cities Reducing Poverty paper highlights the network’s numerous and varied...
By providing a refundable credit at tax time, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is widely viewed as a successful public policy that is both antipoverty and pro-work. But most of its benefits have gone to workers with children. Paycheck Plus is a test of a more generous credit for low-income...
The Gig Worker On-Demand Economy survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Prudential from January 5 to February 18, 2017, among a nationally representative (U.S.) sample of 1,491 workers including 514 full-time and 256 part-time traditional employees and 721 gig workers. Gig work was...
Since taking office in the fall of 2015, the Liberal government has made important changes to the publicly administered components of Canada’s retirement income system (RIS). It has restored the age of eligibility for benefits under Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement...
This paper contributes to the literature on the state of household finances in Canada by constructing new indicators using Canadian microdata based on Canadian and international literature. Using data from the Survey of Financial Security (1999, 2005 and 2012), and also the Canadian Financial...
This report examines the growing racial wealth divide for Black and Latino and the ways that accelerating concentrations of wealth at the top compound and exacerbate this divide. It looks at trends in wealth...
Income inequality in the United States is growing, but the most common economic statistics hide a significant portion of Americans’ financial instability by drawing on annual aggregates of income and spending. Annual numbers can hide fluctuations that determine whether families have trouble...
This is a brief on the cost of financially insecure families to Chicago, in terms of cost of eviction and unpaid bills. The financial health of cities depends on financially secure residents. When families have little to no savings and experience a disruption in their income or expenses, bills may...
The United Kingdom is at the forefront of the global finance industry and is a leader in the fields of financial services, technology and innovation. Despite this high standing, a sizeable number of UK citizens lack access to even the most basic financial services, while still more are forced to...
This review is intended to serve as a resource for employers who are interested in promoting employee financial well-being by helping their employees develop the skills to better manage their money. Section One introduces the need for financial education in the workplace. Section Two offers an...
This is the slide deck from the CFSI / Assets & Opportunity Network webinar on Fintech apps to support financial health. The webinar explains financial health, the goal of financial solutions technologies, the FinLab project to help wealther financial shocks through financial technology -...
In its 2016 budget, the Government of Ontario committed to conducting a basic income pilot project as part of its preparations for comprehensive reform of its social assistance programs. Taking particular note of “today’s dynamic labour market” and a need to “strengthen the attachment to...
This is a brief presentation by Ray Boshara from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It shows data from the Survey of Consumer Finances "financial health scorecard." Results show the disparities in wealth for already vulnerable families, and differences by age, ethnicity, and education. No...
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) commissioned The Strategic Counsel to undertake an environmental scan of experts and organizations engaged either directly or indirectly in the field of financial literacy, specifically in respect of the challenges facing seniors in Canada. This report...
This report explores New Zealand’s ‘Bright Spots’ – local places and community initiatives that are making a positive difference to children and families. Instead of asking about the issues and problems for ‘vulnerable children’ or ‘high-needs families’, we ask ‘what’s...
This is a household profile of a participant in the U.S. Financial Diaries project. Mateo Valencia, 31, and Lucia Benitez, 30, are an unmarried couple living in Queens with their four year- old son Pablo. Mateo and Lucia are undocumented immigrants, and the realities and dangers of living in the...
This is a case study of "The Johnsons," a family studied as part of the U.S. Financial Diaries project. The Johnsons have significant challenges keeping their family afloat. Despite multiple sources of income, which include education aid, their income is volatile and irregular. Their expenses also...
Approximately 2 million Ontarians live in low-income households, many allocating a significant portion of their finances to powering their homes. In these situations, electricity costs can force individuals to have to decide between paying energy bills and providing for other essential food,...
For many Canadians, the road to a comfortable retirement is becoming longer and more difficult. A large portion of the working population is living pay cheque to pay cheque, unable to save, and worried about their local economy, according to the Canadian Payroll Association’s eighth annual...