Researchers from University of Colorado at Boulder and Washington University in St. Louis analyzed three years of tax data and survey responses from 15,000 people to test the effect of having health insurance among low-income Americans. They found that low-income people who purchased health care through an Obamacare marketplace were 25 percent less likely than poor Americans without health insurance to miss housing payments. Bauman, V.
Tag: 2018
Five things to know about Financial Wellness Programs (Links to an external site)
According to a 2017 survey by benefits consultants Alight Solutions, almost 25 percent of employers have a financial wellness program in place, and almost half are in the process of creating one. Some three out of four firms with more than 10,000 employees now offer a financial wellness program, according to a recent study by the Employee Benefits Research Institute. Wasik, J.
Financial well-being in low- and moderate-income households: How does it compare to the general population?
Sun, S., Kondratjeva, O., Roll, S. P., Despard, M., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2018, December). Financial well-being in low- and moderate-income households: How does it compare to the general population? (SPI Research Brief No. 18-03). St. Louis, MO: Washington Univer¬sity, Social Policy Institute.
Advancing Social Responsibility through Cross-Sector Partnerships. University Social Responsibility Network Summit, Haifa, Israel
Dr. Grinstein-Weiss discusses inter-sectional collaboration in promoting social responsibility through innovation and entrepreneurship at the University Social Responsibility Network Summit.
Financial Well-Being: Across Generations, Income Levels, and Business Models (Links to an external site)
Frank-Miller, E.; Speaker at The Conference Board’s Employee Financial Well-Being Conference, Chicago, IL.
Panel: Elevating the Well-Being of Low-Income Families through State and Federal Safety Net Programs (Links to an external site)
November 10, 2018: 10:15 AM-11:45 AM McKinley – Mezz Level (Marriott Wardman Park) Panel Chairs: Nisha Patel, Robin HoodDiscussants: Jeremie Greer, Prosperity Now and David Newville, Prosperity Now
Panel: Policies and Interventions to Promote the Financial Inclusion of Low- and Moderate-Income Households: Current Evidence (Links to an external site)
November 10, 2018: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM 8216 – Lobby Level (Marriott Wardman Park) Panel Chairs: Anne Romatowski, JP Morgan Chase & Co.Discussants: Kasey Wiedrich, Prosperity Now
Panel: Building Assets in Economically Vulnerable and Underprivileged Populations: Barriers and Opportunities (Links to an external site)
November 9, 2018: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
8228 – Lobby Level (Marriott Wardman Park) Panel Chairs: Olga Kondratjeva, Washington University in St. Louis
Discussants: Stephen Grant, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group
Workplace financial wellness programs: Resources for regional collaborative sites
Frank-Miller, E.; Dissemination of research findings from the Employee Financial Wellness Programs project to the National Fund for Workforce Solutions’ regional collaboratives. Hosted by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.
Can Precommitment Increase Savings Deposits? Evidence from a Tax Time Field Experiment (Links to an external site)
This work aims to encourage the saving of the tax refund through an experiment embedding behavioral interventions in a tax filing platform serving almost a million low- and moderate-income households.
Tax-Time Saving Among EITC Recipients: Results of a Large-Scale Experiment Informed by Behavioral Economics (Links to an external site)
Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households lack sufficient liquid assets to address unexpected emergencies and dips in income (McKernan, Ratcliffe, & Vinopal, 2009; Pew Charitable Trusts, 2015). Receiving tax refunds is an opportunity for recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to build emergency savings to help cope with these financial shocks.
The Impact of the Gig-Economy on Financial Hardship (Links to an external site)
On-demand peer-to-peer services (‘gigs’) coordinated by platforms like Uber, allow workers to decide for themselves when and how much to work. This flexible work arrangement offers workers granular control over their earnings.
The “Save for Every Child” program is a success – but there are those who will make more money (Links to an external site)
The Government Savings for All program, launched in January 2017, is relatively successful for similar programs in other countries, but raises concerns that should be taken into account – a study that accompanies the plan shows. Heruti-Sover, T.
The Savings for Every Child program is a success – but there are those who will earn more (Links to an external site)
Heruti-Sober, T
Workforce financial wellness: Evidence from existing programs and future directions for philanthropy
Despard, M.; Presentation to philanthropic leaders through the Asset Funders Network summarizing research findings and recommendations from the Employee Financial Wellness Programs project. Hosted by the Asset Funders Network: Working Group on Work and Wealth.
Making dependent care FSAs work for low- to moderate-income families: 5 action steps for policymakers
Action steps for policymakers to make DCFSAs more usable and effective at reducing the child care cost burden. Project: Workforce Financial Stability Initiative
The Effect of Health Insurance on Home Payment Delinquency: Evidence from ACA Marketplace Subsidies
Gallagher, E., Gopalan, R., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2018). The Effect of Health Insurance on Home Payment Delinquency: Evidence from ACA Marketplace Subsidies. Journal of Public Economics. 172(1), 67-83.
The state of state EITCs: An overview and their implications for low- and moderate-income households
The success of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has prompted numerous states to develop and administer their own EITC programs. This brief presents the results of analyses that used data from a large sample of low- and moderate-income households to learn more about the relationship between state and federal EITCs as well as […]
Refund to Savings 2015–2016: Field experiments to promote tax-time saving in low-and moderate-income households
Roll, S. P., Davison, G., Grinstein-Weiss, M., Despard, M. R., & Bufe, S. (2018). Refund to Savings 2015–2016: Field experiments to promote tax-time saving in low- and moderate-income households (CSD Research Report No. 18-28). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
A toolkit for expanding financial capability at tax time
This work expands upon The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer’s Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time is the Right Time to Save, a 2015 Toolkit by the Center for Social Development (CSD). This new offering presents the current evidence underpinning various tax-time efforts to expand financial capability among LMI households. It includes sections on creating a […]
Employee financial wellness programs: Differences in reach by financial circumstances
Workplace-based Employee Financial Wellness Programs (EFWPs) aim to strengthen employees’ financial well-being through services such as financial coaching, payroll advances and short term installment loans, credit counseling, debt management, and online financial management tools. Although EFWPs are a fast-growing part of employee benefit packages, offerings vary widely in service type and delivery method across employers, […]
Employee financial wellness programs: Differences in reach by race and ethnicity
Employee Financial Wellness Programs (EFWPs) consist of a wide array of workplace-based services and benefits that aim to enhance employees’ financial well-being, such as in-person financial coaching, online financial management tools, and payroll advances or short-term loans. EFWP provision varies across employers with few organizations offering the same set of services. The recently released Employee […]
Effects of a tax-time savings experiment on material and health care hardship among low-income filers
Material and health care hardship is common among households with low incomes and is associated with a host of adverse outcomes but can be mitigated with having savings. The authors assessed the effects of online tax-time savings interventions informed by behavioral economics on hardship among a sample of low- and moderate-income tax filers (N = 4,738). The […]
Encouraging Tax‐Time Savings With A Low‐Touch, Large‐Scale Intervention: Evidence From The Refund To Savings Experiment
Low‐ and moderate‐income households often struggle to save, but the annual tax refund represents a prime opportunity for these households to save toward their financial goals or build their emergency savings. This paper presents the results of a randomized, controlled experiment embedded in a free tax‐preparation product offered in 2013 to low‐ and moderate‐income households. […]
Effects of a randomized tax-time savings intervention on savings account ownership among low- and moderate-income households
Being unbanked makes it difficult for low and moderate-income (LMI) households to manage finances, save, and access credit. We assessed effects of an online tax-time savings intervention on savings account openings in the 6 months following tax filing among a sample of4,692 LMI tax filers. Treatment group participants had 60% greater odds of opening a […]
The mediating role of assets in explaining hardship risk among households experiencing financial shocks
Material hardship is common among low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Without liquid financial assets, these households are more likely to experience hardship in the face of financial shocks—large and unexpected expenses or dips in income. Authors hypothesized that shocks have a direct effect on hardship, and that liquid financial assets partially mediate the relationship between […]
Financial shocks, liquid assets, and material hardship in low- and moderate-income households: Differences by race
Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households need financial assets to help cope with income and expenditure shocks. Prior research identifies racial differences in wealth and wealth effects. We examined whether these gaps and effects exist for liquid financial assets. Using group invariance tests in structural equation modeling, we assessed the relationship between financial shocks and material […]
Promoting savings at tax time: Insights from online and in-person tax preparation services
This report presents findings and insights from Refund to Savings: Applications for myRA, a collaborative project involving the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington University in St. Louis, and Intuit, Inc. The project explored methods of promoting the myRA (My Retirement Account) savings program at tax time—that is, when households file their taxes. It focused specifically on […]
Test the Psychology behind Food Indulgences: How We Trick Ourselves into Thinking Overeating Is Fine and That We’ll Bounce Back Quickly (Links to an external site)
New research from the Duke researchers at the Centene Center for Health Transformation™, published this month in the journal Appetite, explains how our lay beliefs, or naïve models, lead us to faulty assumptions about how our “dietary splurges” impact our weight, resulting in a lack of compensation following these indulgences and self-serving biases.
Exploring Financial Well-Being in America and Its Role in Financial Capability Initiatives (Links to an external site)
Financial well-being means having financial security and freedom of choice, both now and into the future. Research on the state of financial well-being in the United States and what drives it is now available for the first time.
Growing old is nice, but boy is it costly (Links to an external site)
Half of Americans have no retirement savings, according to a Brookings Institution article of three years ago. Hasty reactions to market fluctuations result in escalating debt, according to Michael Grinstein-Weiss, associate professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis and associate director of the Center for Social Development. Shea-Taylor, B.
Financial Planning: Prepare now, avoid bankruptcy later (Links to an external site)
In 2015, Brookings Institution economist Michal Grinstein-Weiss testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging that 45 percent of Americans had no retirement savings. Without corrective action, we can expect the rate of elder bankruptcy to persist or even increase in coming years. Merrel, S.
Israel’s First Social Impact Nudgeathon (Links to an external site)
The study of our own irrationality is called Behavioral Economics. And, thanks to Professors Dan Ariely and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, we held the first-ever social impact Nudgeathon at JDC Israel last week to make sure JDC Israel’s critical programs factor in the inherent irrationality of human decision making. Fishman, O.