By Karla Henriquez, Senior Associate and Beth Brockland, Senior Director Throughout our “Good Jobs Matter” blog series, we have explored the relationship between good jobs and financial health, particularly for low-income workers. But for employers committed to supporting worker financial health, investing in job quality is only part of the solution. In this final installment…

By Helen Robb, Senior Manager, Financial Health Network With the arrival of a new administration in D.C. in a few weeks, it’s time to refocus on what Americans need now to support their financial health. Our recently released 2020 Trends Report found that many Americans were able to cope during the pandemic largely because of…

By Karla Henriquez Senior Associate This is a continuation of our Good Jobs Matter series, exploring “good jobs” and financial health. See the first blog in the series here. Which job qualities are most important for improving a worker’s financial health? As it turns out, wages matter, but so do benefits. For all workers, employee…

By Corey Stone Entrepreneur-in-Residence Back in early April, the Financial Health Network published a short piece of mine calling for banks and credit unions to grant universal forbearance on overdraft fees during the pandemic. I hypothesized that, as newly unemployed workers drained their savings to cover basic living expenses, many would overdraw their bank accounts…

By Karla Henriquez Senior Associate COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, resulting in higher unemployment than the Great Recession. Many of these workers have lost not only the financial security of a paycheck, but also the health benefits that often accompany a full-time job. Therefore, it…

By Tanya Ladha Senior Director No one saw 2020 coming. People started the year like any other, with big plans and resolutions for improvements, not thinking too much about how they’d manage in a sudden crisis. Employers were no different. Most had already finalized their budgets and projections, and were ready to deploy resources and…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The opening lines of Charles Dickens’ iconic novel A Tale of Two Cities perfectly capture the paradoxical nature of this moment in time. Since March, the news has often featured contradictory narratives about the impact of the ongoing pandemic on people’s financial lives….

By Josh Sledge Senior Director One of the discussion points surrounding this year’s election has centered around who gets to vote and how. This has brought attention to the barriers in place for people with a criminal record. An estimated 5.2 million people are barred from voting because of a felony conviction, impacting a disproportionate…

by Marisa Walster, Senior Director Recent history has certainly been eventful for the financial services industry. From the Great Recession of 2008 to the rise of smartphones, the industry has been confronted by global catalysts that have changed the face of consumer banking in the U.S. As we face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic…

By Matt Bahl Vice President, Market Lead Workplace, Financial Health Network Recently, the Financial Health Network entered into a new collaborative partnership with PayPal, JUST Capital, and the Good Jobs Institute to encourage the nation’s largest employers to prioritize employee financial health. This initiative, the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative, centers around a simple, yet often…

By Karla Henriquez Senior Associate Young adults are the most racially and ethnically diverse group in the country, yet they are often seen as a monolithic group. Summer 2020 unveiled inequities deeply ingrained in our society. For Black and Latinx communities, these are inequities that many have been fighting against for years. Our new report,…

By Laura Cummings Director, Financial Health Network It’s no secret that many small businesses don’t make it. Going into 2020, only about half of small businesses were expected to make it to their fifth year. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has further laid bare that financial shocks can be devastating to small business owners, both personally…