Our Research
Commonwealth conducts original qualitative and quantitative research with financially vulnerable people—including Black, Latinx, and women-led households who disproportionately experience financial insecurity. We also interview industry experts and academics. We take what we learn and translate findings into actionable insights and practical solutions designed to change systems to work better for financially vulnerable people. We work with community groups, employers, financial services firms, fintechs, policymakers, and workplace solution providers to design and test real-world, practical solutions that not only work for individuals and families, but are also scalable and address the business needs of our partners.
We share the results of our work to provide you with innovative ideas, practical insights, and the tools you need to act. Explore our publications below.
Commonwealth 2018 Highlights
In 2018, we developed new ideas, tested innovative solutions, and worked with partners to improve the lives of financially vulnerable Americans at scale. Here are just a few examples of the work we’re proud of from 2018.
Scratch & Save: Engaging Digital Experiences Build Financial Security
Commonwealth and EARN tested a digital prize-linked saving campaign called Scratch & Save to motivate weekly small-dollar savings on EARN’s SaverLife platform. This report provides an overview of Scratch & Save and highlights key takeaways that can inspire and inform…
Fulfilling the Promise of FinTech: The Case for a Nonprofit Vision and Leadership
nLIFT, or Nonprofit Leaders in Financial Technology, is a new consortium of leaders from nonprofit organizations around the country. We come from different regions and have different operating models but two things unite us. First, we are committed to working…
Savers Win at Tax Time: Testing Digital Strategies to Promote Tax Time Saving
Commonwealth and EARN tested a pledge and prize campaign to promote tax-time saving among the digital community of low-income people on EARN’s SaverLife platform. Our goals were to better understand the behavior of financially vulnerable people at tax time, explore…
Tax Time and Beyond: Future Directions for Advancing Financial Security
Tax time is a unique and critical opportunity for financially vulnerable people to build financial security. While there have been some efforts to build financial security at tax time, more can be done to help people take advantage of the…
Savings Innovation Convening: Using AI to Build Financial Security
Over the past year, Commonwealth has hosted a series of Savings Innovation convenings in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (the Boston Fed) for banks, credit unions, and key regulators in the region. Each session focused on a…
Minneapolis Minimum Wage Hike Resources
The new Minneapolis minimum wage ordinance went into effect on July 1. Learn how to implement this new ordinance with the below tools and resources you can use to boost your business by encouraging your employees’ financial stability. These include: A direct…
The State of Prize-Linked Savings
Prize-linked savings (PLS) is a proven, innovative, and engaging approach in which savers can earn chances to win prizes by making savings deposits. Commonwealth has been the leading voice for advancing the concept of PLS in the United States for…
Rules of Thumb for Loan Repayment
Traditional forms of financial education, such as student loan entrance and exit counseling, have proven immemorable and unimpactful. Alternative and innovative solutions are needed, including rules of thumb. Rules of thumb are simple, memorable, actionable, broadly applicable, and inexpensive to…
SaveYourRefund 2018
Learn more about the winners and savers from SaveYourRefund 2018.