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
The Future of Financial Opportunity Webinar
The events of the last year and a half have shone a light on the scale of financial vulnerability in the U.S. Before the pandemic, millions of people did not have access to liquid savings or wealth building instruments. Thirty seven percent of…
How to Design Emergency Saving Solutions to Increase Sign Up
Nearly 40% of Americans don’t have enough money saved to cover an unexpected expense of $400. Lack of emergency savings is an increasingly urgent issue especially for households living on lower incomes, particularly Black, Latinx, and women-led households making under $60,000 annually…
Can Fee Reduction Equal More Savings?
Building savings—key to financial security, accessing financial opportunities, handling emergencies, and long-term wealth-building—is currently out of reach for many Americans, 37% of whom are unable to manage a $400 emergency with savings. Lower-income households, particularly Black and women-led households making under $60K…
Losing Income Through a Crisis
With the number of vaccinated Americans steadily increasing, the number of new COVID-19 cases steadily going down, and the American Rescue Plan providing much-need economic relief, Americans wanting signs of hope after a long year have a number of places…
The ARPA Opportunity Webinar
In March President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law – another round of long-awaited support and relief from Congress to help Americans deal with the painful economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. ARPA is…
The Role of Public Policy in Solving the Emergency Savings Crisis
Emergency savings is vital to family financial wellbeing and the broader economy. With 37% of Americans unable to manage a $400 emergency with savings, and lower-income households, particularly Black, and women-led households making under 60K per year disproportionately affected, lack…
How Social Support Can Help Lower-Income People Save Money
As part of BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative, Commonwealth completed a one-year pilot on group savings with our partner Esusu that resulted in participants saving a total of $6,440. We found that 93% of participants saved regularly as a group, demonstrating…
Closing the Gender Wealth Gap
Our current economic crisis has shone a light on long-standing economic, racial, and gender inequities that have led to the gender wealth gap that profoundly impacts Americans’ financial security. In honor of Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the specific…
Recordkeepers And Emergency Savings Webinar
With 37% of Americans unable to manage a $400 emergency with savings, and lower-income households, particularly Black, women-led households making under 60K per year disproportionately affected, the issue of emergency savings is an urgent one for much of America. COVID-19…
New and Traditional Pathways for Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
As the national conversation about racial disparities continues, it’s important to ensure that we are including solutions to address the racial wealth gap. In 2016, the median white family had ten times the wealth of the median Black family. That…