BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative Impact and Learnings Report 2019-2026
Executive Summary
The 2026 Emergency Savings Initiative (ESI) Impact Report examines how emergency savings solutions can strengthen workplace financial security and support long-term financial well-being for working families.
Since 2019, Commonwealth has helped advance BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative alongside employers, financial institutions, recordkeepers, researchers, nonprofits, and advocates working to make emergency savings easier to build through the financial systems people already use every day.
Over the last seven years, the initiative has demonstrated how accessible emergency savings solutions integrated into payroll systems, retirement plans, workplace financial accounts, and employee benefits can help workers build liquid savings while also supporting retirement participation, long-term investing, and broader financial resilience.
The report highlights key learnings, cross-sector partnerships, research insights, and implementation approaches that helped move emergency savings from an emerging idea to a growing pillar of workplace financial security.
Key Accomplishments of ESI
- Reached more than 22 million workers with access to emergency savings solutions and enabled over $7.9 billion in new emergency savings. Primarily benefiting people living on LMI, ESI has shown that when workers have access to the right savings solutions at the right moments, they build financial security that reaches far beyond a single emergency.
- Transformed how the retirement industry approaches emergency savings. Leading recordkeepers in the coalition have brought emergency savings options to market, shifting the industry conversation from “if” to “when and how”, and making short-term savings a standard part of the retirement plan experience.
- Embedded emergency savings into the paychecks, retirement plans, and benefits packages millions of workers already use. Through employers and providers, ESI has driven the integration of accessible savings solutions into paychecks, 401(k) plans, and workplace bank accounts. Together, these solutions reach workers across industries, income levels, and geographies.
- Demonstrated that emergency savings protects and strengthens retirement security. ESI research and partner data confirm that workers with liquid savings are less likely to take early-retirement withdrawals and more likely to participate in retirement plans. At participating employers, 20% of emergency savers began contributing to a 401(k) for the first time after opening an emergency savings account.
AUTONATION
We learned that our population has very different needs and views on what a good program or a beneficial program for them would look like.
– Nancy Weiss, Senior Director, Retirement, Benefits Financial Reporting and Relocation
COMPASS
As a retirement plan consultant, I am committed to guiding plan sponsors on the critical importance of emergency savings programs in enhancing employees’ financial wellness. Establishing a solid foundation of rainy day savings is essential, as it empowers employees to confidently engage with and optimize their 401(k) and retirement plans. For many low-to-moderate income individuals, financial insecurity renders retirement planning seemingly out of reach. However, thanks to the impactful initiatives led by the Commonwealth team, emergency savings programs deliver tangible results by providing employees with the financial stability necessary to secure a stronger future.”
– Compass Retirement Plan Consultant
GXO
It’s doing the job that I intended it to do. I have my money going in there. I don’t use it a lot, but it is nice to know that if you do use it, you have that cash back option… I just think it’s a really, really great service.
– GXO Employee
AUTONATION
For many, emergency expenses can be a barrier to saving for retirement. ESAs expand our retirement plan offering and can give retirement savers more confidence about handling the unexpected while staying on the path toward a secure retirement.
– Francisco Negrón, head of Retirement
AUTONATION
At Truist, we help clients build financial confidence by supporting emergency savings and long-term security through our partnership with Commonwealth and BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative. This partnership brings our purpose to life—helping inspire and build better lives and communities for clients, wherever they are on their financial journey.
– Yolande Matthew, Workplace Banking & Financial Empowerment Executive at Truist Bank
Voya
We see this fitting best with employers who have a high concentration of low-to-moderate-income workers and lower retirement plan participation. It’s a new tool to help boost participation by showing employees that retirement savings aren’t completely out of reach and that the money isn’t locked away forever; it can be accessed in emergencies. It’s especially effective when paired with an in-plan or out-of-plan emergency savings solution.
– Tom Armstrong, Vice President, Customer Analytics and Insight Head of Voya Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation
Why This Matters
Unexpected expenses continue to disrupt financial stability for millions of households across the United States. Without access to liquid savings, workers may rely on high-cost debt, delay bill payments, withdraw retirement savings early, or postpone long-term financial goals.
The Emergency Savings Initiative contributes to a growing body of evidence showing that emergency savings and long-term wealth building are deeply connected. The findings from this work help inform employers, retirement providers, financial institutions, policymakers, and researchers seeking scalable approaches to improving both short and long-term financial security.
As employers and financial services providers continue to offer emergency savings solutions, this research provides insights into implementation and worker engagement strategies, and demonstrates the relationship between short-term savings and long-term financial outcomes.
A Message from Tim Flacke, Co-Founder and CEO of Commonwealth
Transcript
For decades, an overlooked truth has shaped the financial lives of millions of families across the U.S.: creating long-term financial security is only possible by focusing on the financial present.
It sounds simple. But even a decade ago, the foundational role that emergency savings played in people’s lives was not widely recognized by the institutions that shape our financial lives–namely, employers, benefit providers, banks and other financial firms. Meanwhile, up to four in ten Americans consistently reported that they couldn’t cover an unexpected $400 expense without borrowing or selling something.
In 2019, BlackRock’s social impact team decided to do something about it, focusing on a single idea– that emergency savings is foundational to financial security. To drive change in a serious way, they convened Commonwealth, Financial Health Network and others to engage a cross-sector coalition to build and embed accessible savings solutions into the retirement, payroll, and benefits infrastructure that tens of millions of workers rely on. When COVID-19 amplified families’ financial vulnerability, the increased focus on livelihoods drew policymakers’ attention. As the need for liquid savings became clearer, evidence of what worked mounted, and more leaders took action. Due to the collective action of a mobilized field, emergency savings gradually became a broadly-recognized priority.
Sea change doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, strategy, patience and commitment. It takes research, experimentation, adaptation and advocacy. And it takes a network of committed actors, employers, retirement plan recordkeepers, benefit providers, payroll firms, financial service firms and policymakers working toward a common cause over years. In a word, it takes leadership.
This report documents collective results over the last seven years, which include dramatic, measurable increases in both access to quality emergency savings solutions, and actual new savings. It includes a growing body of evidence that emergency savings and long-term wealth building aren’t competing priorities—they’re essential complements. The report highlights federal policy that legitimizes the importance of liquid savings and offers new avenues for employers and benefit providers to offer workers savings tools. And it emphasizes the positive, tangible outcomes when we address both short-term financial needs and long-term wealth building. People who build emergency savings are both more likely to become retail investors and stay invested over time, improving economic opportunities for generations to come.
I’m proud of what Commonwealth has contributed– and will continue to contribute– to this work. In addition, I’m deeply grateful to The BlackRock Foundation and the many Emergency Savings Initiative (ESI) partnerships that have made such important progress possible. But more than anything, I’m moved by what it represents for the 22 million and counting working families now better equipped to weather the inevitable shocks of financial life and make real progress toward their long-term financial goals. This is what systems change looks like in practice: leaders across sectors committed to understanding an issue, building solutions around people’s true needs, and taking action for widespread change.
Methodology
- Seven years of cross-sector research, implementation, and evaluation (2019–2026)
- Analysis of employer and financial institution pilot programs
- Research partnerships across workplace financial security, retirement, and investing sectors
- Evaluation of emergency savings and retirement adoption and usage data
- Worker financial behavior and participation analysis
- Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
- Cross-sector coalition collaboration involving employers, retirement providers, financial institutions, researchers, nonprofits, and advocates
2026 Emergency Savings Initiative Impact Report
Published: June 23, 2026
Authors: The BlackRock Foundation + Commonwealth
To Cite This Report
The BlackRock Foundation, Commonwealth. (2026). BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative Impact & Learnings Report 2019-2026. https://buildcommonwealth.org/research/2026-emergency-savings-initiative-impact-report/
