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Pulse Data

The Financial Health Network is collaborating with USC’s Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research to field Pulse surveys to their online panel, the Understanding America Study. Study participants who agree to share their transactional and account data use Plaid’s data connectivity services to authorize their data for analysis.

Survey Data

The Pulse draws upon survey data from USC’s “Understanding America Study,” a nationally representative probability-based internet panel. Annual surveys shed light on how financial health changes across the country and for individuals over time. Pulse survey questionnaires and data sets are available for researchers to download and explore below.

Download the Data

Transactional Data

The Pulse also analyzes transactional and account data that USC’s panelists agree to share through a secure data platform that leverages Plaid’s API. Nearly 1,000 individuals have linked at least one financial account to the platform. The sample is broadly representative of the online banked population in the United States. To learn more about how these data are collected and analyzed, read this methodology overview.

Pulse Points

Pulse Points offer regular, timely updates on financial health using transactional and account data from the Financial Health Pulse.

Brief

Pulse Points: Savings Dwindled as Spending Increased in Q4 2021

Consumers spent more money on recreation and eating out during the 2021 holiday season than during the 2020 holiday season, but many remain vulnerable as government relief programs expire and inflation continues. This brief examines the factors that may shape financial health in the early months of 2022.

Measurement

Feb 21, 2022

Research Paper

Pulse Points Fall 2021: How Families Are Using Child Tax Credits

New Pulse transactional data suggests that child tax credit payments have had a positive financial impact on recipients, particularly those who experienced hardship in the past.