HomeMeasuring the financial health of Americans
Despite the vast data collected by our government, we lack an accepted method of assessing financial health. Learn why we must measure not only each household’s annual income but also its annual spending, saving, borrowing, and planning habits to identify communities whose financial health is poor, deteriorating, or failing to keep pace with overall improvements.
Despite the vast data collected by our government, we lack an accepted method of assessing financial health. Learn why we must measure not only each household’s annual income but also its annual spending, saving, borrowing, and planning habits to identify communities whose financial health is poor, deteriorating, or failing to keep pace with overall improvements.
- Read our plan for translating key financial indicators into a composite index that evaluates financial health in tiers.
- Discover how a range of government programs could use the composite index to craft eligibility and distribution criteria that benefit communities most in need.
- See how private institutions could use benchmarks established through the composite index to assess their impact on the financial health of their employees, customers, and clients.
Written by
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Senior AdvisorFinancial Health Network -
President and Chief Executive OfficerFinancial Health Network
Measuring the financial health of Americans
The Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities is a landmark step for equity, but without an effective measure of financial health, how will we know if we’ve succeeded? In this report published by the Brookings Institution, we explore why our government must establish a standard index for evaluating financial health.