Blog
Access Commonwealth’s latest thinking, new ideas, and practical insights from our team of innovators, researchers, and business experts.
Designing Financial Solutions for Elder Caregivers
How to Support Workers on the Frontlines During the Pandemic
As more states announce stay-at-home advisories to slow the spread of COVID-19, American storefronts have gone quiet: falling consumer spending and rising unemployment are evident in every empty shopping center and city block. However, a subset of “essential” businesses, such…
Employer Emergency Cash Programs During COVID-19
We have all seen the headlines—more than 16 million people have filed unemployment claims in the US— and those in low-wage or hourly jobs are more likely to be impacted economically. Even if you have been able to maintain your…
Building the Case for Emergency Savings
Recently, Commonwealth partnered with Professor Howell Jackson’s Fintech HLS class to explore new pathways to dramatically increase access to emergency savings for lower- and moderate-income families. The collaboration led to the development of an HLS case study, which is used…
New Report: Etsy Sellers Look for More Support with the Challenge of Emergency Savings
Non-traditional workers have been at the forefront of the national discussion in recent weeks, driven in part by the passage of the CARES Act, which includes unemployment benefits for gig workers, freelancers, and the self-employed. Long before the COVID-19 crisis…
How Can Mindsets Support Financial Security?
People living on low to moderate incomes (LMI) face uncertainty—now more than ever, given the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. The financial, or material, factors that affect people’s financial security are well-researched, but what of their mindsets? In order…
How Employers Can Reduce the Financial Burden of COVID-19
The unprecedented economic impact of COVID-19 has had severe implications for workers earning low to moderate incomes (LMI)—many of whom are increasingly looking to their employers for support. At Commonwealth, we’ve heard from employers, financial institutions, fintechs, and others looking…
Piloting Employee Emergency Savings
The Federal Reserve found in 2018 that as many as 39% of households would struggle to cover an unplanned $400 expense. The lack of household emergency savings and financial insecurity impacts not only families, friends, and the community, but employers…
More Slack
There are many factors leading to the extremely tight, stretched budgets of people living on low to moderate incomes (LMI). How can people begin to save or build wealth when they do not have the available funds to do so?…
A Long-term Goal that Matters
A new year is a time for imagining. What does the world you want to live in look like? Commonwealth was founded almost 20 years ago to pursue a disarmingly simple idea: wealth should be possible for everyone, and when…
Highlights from 2019
How do you create a stronger and more prosperous society where everyone has financial opportunity? We have long believed the answer is more wealth—of opportunity, of tools, and of financial assets. Accordingly, we took a multifaceted approach to the challenge of…