Strategies for Transformative Scale. In their quest for answers, pioneers such as Year Up and the organizations that follow are experimenting with ways to help far more people while keeping a lid on the growth of their own organizations. Reviewing their efforts to date, we can identify nine...

This introductory article by guest editor, Elizabeth McIsaac of Maytree, provides an overview of the strategies and policies for rights-based poverty reduction in Canada beginning with the need for common language and goals. Referring to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural...

During 2020, alternative approaches to the traditional community tax clinic model have become even more valuable as COVID-19 lockdown measures prevented in-person program delivery. In response to the growing demand for alternative ways to deliver tax-filing support, Prosper Canada partnered...

This webinar, "Indigenous financial wellness in Canada," introduces an Indigenous financial wellness framework, identifies some of the key barriers and opportunities for building financial wellness in Indigenous communities, and highlights evidence-based best practices for building financial...

This report discusses the vulnerability of millions of people in the US who lack adequate emergency savings. A workplace-based solution—rainy day savings accounts— can potentially help workers with low savings weather financial...

This brief raises consumer perspectives on financial technology (fintech), and offers guidance for fintech developers on how to best serve low- to moderate-income...

This brief discusses the benefits that Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) bring to help more families save for their children's education. Recommendations to federal policies in the United States are made for the purpose of helping families to start saving early to build greater savings and...

There is much evidence that the quality of the social determinants of health Canadians experience helps explain the wide health inequalities that exist among Canadians. How long Canadians can expect to live and whether they will experience cardiovascular disease or adult-onset diabetes is very much...

Canada’s external complaint handing structures and processes play a critical role in levelling the playing field for consumers and financial service providers, helping to offset the inevitable imbalance of power between large financial institutions and individual consumers. Prosper Canada...

Women are less financially literate than men. It is unclear whether this gap reflects a lack of knowledge or, rather, a lack of confidence. This survey experiment shows that women tend to disproportionately respond “do not know” to questions measuring financial knowledge, but when this response...

A guide comprised of 12 fact sheets for consumers to learn more about credit, grouped into the following topics: general information, warnings, credit products, and comparison tables. (Please note this is a French-language...

Almost half of low-income households and 62 per cent of moderate-income households carry debt, with households on low incomes spending 31 per cent of their income on debt repayments, according to a new report published by national charity, Prosper Canada. This report analyzes the distribution,...

This report provides an overview of financial health and the policy responses around the world. Based on this, and the key questions of whether financial health measure more than income and if financial inclusion supports financial health, the report offers recommendations to policy makers on...

Income volatility is increasing in the United States and presents a growing public health problem. This study examines associations of long-term income volatility  with incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause...

Prosper Canada and AFOA Canada are pleased to collaboratively tell the story of The Shared Path: First Nations Financial Wellness. This work was undertaken in the spirit of reconciliation between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous people in Canada and creating a more equitable and inclusive...

This article in the Economic Insights series from Statistics Canada examines the economic well-being of millennials by comparing their household balance sheets to those of previous generations of young Canadians. Measured at the same point in their life course, millennials were relatively better...

The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is an educational savings incentive that provides children from low income families born in 2004 or later with financial support for post-secondary education. Personal contributions are not required to receive the CLB, however take-up remains low among the eligible...

Financial education plays an important role in guiding individuals to achieve their financial goals and contribute to the economic well-being of society as a whole. While the examination on the effectiveness of financial education has many factors to consider, the National Endowment for Financial...

Using information from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation 2012 National Financial Capability Study, we examined financial capability among people with and without disabilities. Respondents noted as having disabilities throughout this report selected “permanently sick, disabled, or unable to...

Alcohol overuse and poverty, each associated with premature death, often exist within disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Cheque cashing places (CCPs) may be opportunistically placed in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, where customers abound. This article explores whether neighbourhood density of CCPs and...

Developmental evaluation is a work-in-progress; an evolving methodology. This guide builds on the contribution of an earlier booklet by Jamie Gamble entitled A Developmental Evaluation Primer, published by the Foundation in 2008. It contains the lessons and insights of a group of practitioners who...

Most Americans are aware that income inequality has increased in the last 30 years. Less well known is that income instability—how much families’ incomes fluctuate up and down over time—has also grown substantially. The Great Risk Shift (Hacker 2006; revised and expanded in 2008) documented a...

During childhood and youth we build the foundations for financial well-being later in life, acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and personality traits that enable us to manage our finances as adults. This article reviews literature from consumer science, developmental psychology, and allied...

An important part of program design is determining how to assess the program’s effects on the clients and their community. Typically, we assess program effectiveness by measuring the changes in outcomes—the changes in the conditions of your clients, their families and their communities—that...

Indicators are the data that help you assess whether or not you are on track to achieve the desired results identified in your logic model. They are also useful to communicate your program’s potential impact to funders and stakeholders. Programs that consistently collect and review data to track...