For many of us, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has upended our lives this past week—whether it’s our children’s schools closing without warning, our workplaces making major changes or another unexpected disruption, every day seems to offer a new and different reality.  At Commonwealth, we have taken immediate steps to ensure the health and safety of our staff by closing our physical office and moving to remote work. Day to day, we remain focused on Commonwealth’s mission, which has never had a more clear and definite purpose.

The unprecedented economic impact of COVID-19 has laid bare the widespread financial insecurity that many Americans face every day.  For hourly, low-wage, and gig workers—many of whom have no access to sick pay and are living paycheck-to-paycheck—the economic impact of the virus is and will continue to be severe. For women, people of color—specifically, Black and Hispanic—and households with children, disproportionately so.

We’ve known for a long time that financially vulnerable people deal with financial stress and uncertainty on a daily basis. Now, as more of us feel these anxieties ourselves, or see them on the news and social media feeds, this reality is hitting closer to home.

Building financial security, especially in light of a global emergency like the coronavirus outbreak, will require a broad, multi-faceted approach. We are committed to working closely with our partners—employers, financial institutions, policymakers, social sector leaders, and others—to build sustainable solutions that enable people to manage unexpected emergencies—the everyday and the unprecedented—and ultimately build financial security and opportunity.

We continue to write and speak about the virus’ impact on financial security, sharing our insights and research to spotlight the issue. We are also planning an upcoming webinar with our fellow industry experts on BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative to help employers seeking to reduce the financial burden of COVID-19 on their employees and business.

Lastly, we have created a dedicated page, which we will update regularly as we learn more about the virus’ impact on financially vulnerable people and what we can do to address it.  For more information, and to follow all of our efforts, please visit: https://buildcommonwealth.org/about/coronavirus

Timothy Flacke
Executive Director
Commonwealth