Blog

Access Commonwealth’s latest thinking, new ideas, and practical insights from our team of innovators, researchers, and business experts.

Featured

Designing Financial Solutions for Elder Caregivers

Insights to Drive Innovation

Commonwealth Joins Call for a Presidential Financial Inclusion Strategy

Commonwealth is proud to join a diverse coalition of nearly 40 financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, racial equity advocacy organizations, and government offices in signing a letter calling for a Presidential Financial Inclusion Commission. By creating a Commission, the United States…

Designing Conversational AI for People Living on Low to Moderate Incomes

The emergence of new technologies has a major impact on financial security and opportunity at every level of society. Too often, however, the design of new technologies does not take into account the needs of and potential benefits for households…

A Financial “Silver Lining” to the Pandemic? Look Again.

As we passed the two-year COVID-19 milestone, you may have heard talk of a “silver lining” that Americans’ financial situations have improved during the pandemic.

Human-Centered Design: How to Prioritize Equity and Inclusion in the Design of Financial Products – 3 Key Takeaways

Human-centered design is a long-standing best practice for designers – put simply, putting the human you are designing for at the center of your design seems like the obvious way to go. The challenge with this approach is it can…

Designing Research to Maximize Engagement of Gig Workers

The Financial Benefits Project tests benefits employers can use to support financial security of gig workers.

Joint Principles for Effective Emergency Savings Policy

As the COVID-19 pandemic and recession reminded us, millions of Americans are not prepared to weather a financial emergency. Policymakers have an opportunity now to create ways to better support individuals and their families to maintain financial security and build…

Breaking Down Barriers to Investing for Women of Color

Persistent racial and gender wealth gaps remain a major obstacle to building financial security for low- to moderate-income (LMI) households in the United States. The median Black family in the U.S. has $24,100 in wealth, just one-eighth the wealth of…

What’s Next for the “S” in ESG Webinar

4 takeaways for integrating worker financial security into the “S” of ESG

Financial insecurity remains a pervasive issue, and there is growing recognition of the role of the workplace in advancing worker financial security.  As Commonwealth continues to work with employers, it is clear that investors are also an important stakeholder in…

Fostering a Landscape that Enables Financial Security & Opportunity for All

A new year is a time for optimism and as we settle into 2022, I find it helpful to reflect on important accomplishments from 2021 that few of us would have predicted a year ago. Globally, over four billion people…

Emergency Savings Design Challenge

Mad*Pow and Commonwealth are on a mission to close the emergency savings gap. Emergency savings are fundamental to financial security, yet many low- and moderate-income families are unable to manage unexpected expenses through their emergency funds or from savings. Furthermore,…