This study from the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research examined the career earnings following a four-year college degree (versus a high school diploma) for students from a low-income background and compared them to those from a higher-income background. The results showed that there was a significant difference in earnings between the two income backgrounds even though they had both earned a four-year degree.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers colorful, visually appealing booklets for counselors addressing basic financial management skills with clients. Behind on bills? helps clients get a handle on cash flow, prioritizing bills and expenses, and creating an action plan. Debt getting in your way? helps clients map out existing debt, set repayment goals, and avoid future debt. Each booklet contains simple tools that can stimulate conversations about financial management. Booklets can be ordered from the CFPB for free.

Integrating financial security services into workforce development programs can achieve greater impact without requiring significant cost and time. Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW) and The Financial Clinic (the Clinic) have partnered to analyze the effects of financial security services on workforce development programs, with results released in four issue briefs. The briefs can be retrieved individually, or in their entirety. Issue Brief #1 is Why Should We Integrate? and discusses how workforce development organizations have made the case for integrating financial security practices. Issue Brief #2 is entitled How Can You Do It? and addresses how organizations integrate financial security practices. Issue Brief #3 is What About Roadblocks? and looks at how organizations have overcome integration challenges. Issue Brief #4 is called Is the Impact Worth It? and illustrates how organizations have justified the investment given the rewards.