Decades of segregation, structural racism, and disinvestment have made it difficult for Black and Latine families with low incomes to successfully build wealth in Fresno, California. Even though agencies and nonprofits have programs to assist those who are struggling, these stabilization efforts do not create wealth. This blogpost illustrates how a steering committee of leaders in Fresno designed a comprehensive model—the Prosperity Coaching Network and Pilot—to deliver a more integrated suite of local agency and nonprofit resources across the stages of wealth creation. The blogpost also notes how as part of the broader Fresno DRIVE (Developing the Region’s Inclusive and Vibrant Economy) Initiative, the Prosperity Coaching Network and Pilot can serve as a promising model to address long-standing challenges to economic mobility in Fresno and other communities nationally.

Many jurisdictions are considering unconditional direct cash transfers (DCTs) to youth and young adults to bolster housing stability, transitions to adulthood, well-being, and racial justice. DCTs offer a promising source of support and a safety net. The benefit of participating in a DCT program, though, is diminished if the payments increase tax obligations or reduce eligibility for public benefits or other financial assistance. Informed by collaborative community engagement with youth experts, local jurisdictions, nonprofits, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers through an interactive webinar series, this toolkit presents in one place the tax, public benefits, and educational aid implications for young people participating in DCT programs. Collaborators in the design of the toolkit also identified strategies to mitigate adverse effects on young people and maximize the positive effects of DCTs on young people’s well-being and investments in their personal goals.

To better understand the impact of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) on Black, Latinx, and other families of color, and whether it was effectively redressing longstanding and interrelated racial and economic inequities, the Center for the Study of Social Policy conducted a survey in the winter of 2021-2022. This brief summarizes findings from the survey and complements previously published qualitative analysis of the impact of the expanded CTC on families and communities.

City and community leaders from government, philanthropy, and practice can make a difference in residents’ financial lives. They have the tools, policy and program levers, and decision making power to influence financial well-being at the local level and help narrow the racial wealth gap. This dashboard illustrates financial health and wealth across cities and states and by race and ethnicity, where data are available. Users can search by city or zip code to select a PUMA (Public Use Microdata Area) or area containing no fewer than 100,000 people. Data for each PUMA can be filtered to identify data on: median net worth; percent of residents with delinquent debt; percent of residents who are student loan holders with delinquent student loan debt; percent of low-income households with housing-cost burden; percent of households with at least $2,000 in emergency savings; median credit score; percent of resident who have had a foreclosure in the past two years; and the percent of residents with health insurance coverage.

This report details how states across the country are using flexible State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to boost income security, particularly for those who face structural barriers to building wealth and income and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. States have used some of this federal aid to expand income security programs, for example by increasing cash benefits provided through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), savings accounts for children from low-income families and people with low incomes, and one-time cash payments targeted to those with low incomes. By strengthening and expanding these programs with FRF, states can continue to improve the current and long-term well-being of individuals and families.

This research brief shares findings from new analysis of income data of Black and white households who participate in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program, a refundable tax credit that serves as the primary income support for low- and moderate-income families in the United States. The brief notes that because the EITC is conditioned on a household's employment and work hours, its benefits to Black workers and families may be tempered by persistent structural barriers to employment and labor market discrimination. The findings also recognize that take-up of the EITC depends on workers’ awareness of the benefit and the decision to file an income tax return. Community-based organizations and tax assistance programs have an important role in promoting awareness of the EITC and providing tax filing assistance so more eligible families can receive the program’s benefits.

Through the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), states administer child care subsidy programs to support low-income parents’ employment and expand children’s access to high-quality child care. Many Hispanic children stand to benefit from this key public investment, given that most live with an employed parent and more than half live in low-income households. This brief examines how CCDF policies are interpreted and implemented on the ground by local caseworkers and administrators who work directly with families seeking subsidies. Using an online survey to assess the administrative burden for Hispanic applicants, researchers found that all local subsidy staff identified employment as an approved activity; most (80% or more) considered education, job training, and activities related to the TANF program to be approved; and fewer (60% to 70%) considered job searching and activities related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to be approved.

The Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program’s two-part Financial Resilience series will highlight the foundational role benefits play in supporting household financial resilience, elevate the insights and work of benefit leaders, and discuss the opportunities for scale and innovations needed in public benefits and workplace benefits. Part 2 of this webinar series, Modernizing Workplace Benefits to Support Financial Resilience, will take place on November 17, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT. This webinar will highlight a new framework for financial resilience which showcases the importance of workplace benefits in holistically supporting households to manage and mitigate the impact of financial shocks. Speakers will explore commitments by private sector leaders to support workers’ financial resilience and elevate the benefit innovators: investors, benefit providers and administrators, employees, and fintech. These innovators are currently leading the way to modernize workplace benefits and scale innovations to ensure all workers and their families are financially resilient. The first webinar occurred on October 13, 2022.

This blogpost illustrates how newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal a major public policy success. The nation’s child poverty rate dropped by half in 2021, from an estimated 10% in 2020 to a historic low of 5%. This drop was primarily due to the expanded child tax credit (CTC), according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The SPM provides an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of government anti-poverty interventions by accounting for safety net benefits, including the expanded child tax credit as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Based on Census Bureau data, the CTC lifted 2.9 million children out of poverty in 2021; one-third of these kids was under age 6.

The once-in-a-generation financial disruption caused by COVID-19 was a massive stress test on the financial resilience of U.S. households. In response, policymakers, companies, nonprofits, and community leaders stepped up to support households in ways they never had before – through direct financial assistance, by closing critical gaps in workplace benefits, and with innovative solutions to improve the design and delivery of benefits.

The Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program will host a two-part Financial Resilience series which will highlight the foundational role benefits play in supporting household financial resilience, elevate the insights and work of benefit leaders, and discuss the opportunities for scale and innovations needed in public benefits and workplace benefits. Part 1 of this webinar series, Modernizing Public Benefits, will take place on October 13, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. This webinar will highlight a new framework for financial resilience, elevate the work of federal, state, and nonprofit leaders currently paving the way to support household financial resilience by taking a people-centric approach to public benefits design and delivery, and explore opportunities for scaling these solutions to reach all households. Details on Part 2 of the webinar series, Modernizing Workplace Benefits on November 17, 2022, will be included in a future PeerTA newsletter.