Household Financial Well-Being

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Household Financial Well-Being
An Economy That Works for All: Housing Affordability
EVENT | January 14, 2025
On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, the New York Fed will host this fourth annual event with President John C. Williams delivering opening remarks. The hybrid event will feature presentations on improving housing affordability in America to make housing more inclusive and equitable and be of interest to community organizations, state and local governments, and advocacy organizations.

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Household Financial Well-Being
Innovations in Baby Bonds
EVENT | January 16, 2025
On Thursday, January 16, 2025, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with Asset Funders Network and the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at The New School, will host an in-person event highlighting how strategic investments in baby bonds, combined with direct financial assistance, can address wealth inequality.

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One-third of households wouldn’t be able to pay for an unexpected $400 expense. Our team is looking to identify ways to change that, with the knowledge that finding solutions will improve the economy—not just for people who are one paycheck away from disaster—but for all of us.

Featured Work
Household Financial Well-being
Measuring What Matters: Connecting Economic Prosperity with Household Well-being<
EVENT | November 20, 2024
On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, the New York Fed, in partnership with the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, hosted an in-person event highlighting the Academy’s CORE Score, a measure of American well-being drawn from 11 indicators across four categories: economic security, economic opportunity, health, and political efficacy.
Household Financial Well-being
Intermediating Impact: Making Missing Markets
Event | November 14, 2024
On Thursday, November 14, 2024, the New York Fed hosted an in-person event focused on creating and improving markets to deliver investments to under-resourced communities. The event focused on examples of effective channels for investing in the health, climate resilience, and household financial well-being of communities.
Household Financial Well-being
The Making Missing Markets Initiative
By David Erickson | November 6, 2024
The report analyzes overlapping vulnerabilities across under-resourced communities and introduces the Making Missing Markets initiative. The initiative examines cross-sector interventions that target the upstream determinants of health equity, climate adaptation and resilience, and economic growth, while connecting previously siloed resources dedicated to tackling these problems.
Household Financial Well-being
The Future of New York City: Focus on Jobs
EVENT | APRIL 25, 2024
On Friday, October 4, 2024, the New York Fed hosted a half-day conference focused on the future of employment in New York City. Topics included how the composition of jobs in the city has changed since the pandemic; what’s needed to create jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and provide broad-based prosperity to the city; and how to develop and attract workers to fill jobs.
Household Financial Well-being
Promising Approaches to Financing Child Care Facilities
EVENT | September 19, 2024
On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the New York Fed, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, hosted an in-person event at Connecticut’s Housatonic Community College on innovative financing in the child care sector.
Household Financial Well-being
Digital Equity in the U.S. Northeast, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
BY AMBIKA NAIR AND BELICIA RODRIGUEZ | JULY 18, 2024
The report examines broadband, cost, speed and availability for different populations in those areas between 2020 and 2023. It finds that rural, lower income, and tribal communities are most affected by a lack of broadband access.
All Work
Household Financial Well-being
Rural Innovation Done Right: Systemic Solutions for Rural Prosperity
EVENT | JUNE 28, 2024
On Friday, June 28, the New York Fed, in partnership with the Rural Opportunity Institute and SVT Group, hosted a hybrid event focused on case studies and strategies for tapping the economic potential of rural America. The event featured rural innovators working to eradicate poverty in their communities.

Household Financial Well-being
Examining the Origination and Sale of Loans by Community Development Financial Institutions
BY Jacob Scott, Maria Carmelita Recto, and Jonathan Kivell | May 8, 2024
The Community Development team's latest publication examines loan origination by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) for a four-year period ending in 2022. It quantifies the amount of CDFI loans sold during the same period, and the role played by the ten most active CDFIs in both loan volume and loan resale.

Household Financial Well-being
Expanding Access to Capital for CDFIs
EVENT | May 14, 2024
On Tuesday, May 14, 2024, the New York Fed hosted a hybrid event focused on expanding access to capital for Community Development Financial Institutions. Speakers explored the current state of capital access for CDFIs, including origination and sale of loans by CDFIs; discussed the challenges and opportunities for the industry to expand; and provided an overview of potential policy initiatives.

Household Financial Well-being
Fostering Neighborhoods: Faith-Based Organizations and the Development of Affordable Housing
EVENT | APRIL 25, 2024
On Thursday, April 25, 2024, the New York Fed, in partnership with the NYU Furman Center, hosted a hybrid event on the development of affordable housing on land owned by faith-based organizations. The event was of interest to leaders of faith-based organizations, capital providers, developers, and other key stakeholders.

Household Financial Well-being
A Case Study of Pension Fund Investments in Multifamily Affordable Housing
BY TALOR CRAWFORD, JONATHAN KIVELL, AND MARIA CARMELITA RECTO | FEBRUARY 29, 2024
The New York Fed’s Community Development team is studying institutional investments in affordable apartments to understand how private capital investments may affect rents. Its latest publication is a case study that examines pension fund investments in affordable rentals, totaling over $2.7 billion during a five-and-a-half-year period ending June 2023.

Household Financial Well-being
Institutional Investors in Multifamily Affordable Housing
EVENT | APRIL 3, 2024
On Wednesday, April 3, 2024, the New York Fed hosted an in-person event focused on multifamily affordable housing, including insights into institutional investments in affordable housing by pensions, corporations, and impact investors. The event explored opportunities for market growth, barriers to investments, and the need for equity capital to finance affordable housing development and preservation.

Household Financial Well-being
Fostering Neighborhoods: Hospitals and the Development of Affordable Housing
EVENT | MARCH 7, 2024
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with the NYU Furman Center, hosted a hybrid event encouraging cross-sector collaboration to build more affordable housing in New York City.

Household Financial Well-being
The State of Low-Income America: Credit Access & Housing
BY CLAIRE KRAMER-MILLS, AMBIKA NAIR, BELICIA RODRIGUEZ, AND JOELLE SCALLY | JANUARY 18, 2024
As part of our mission to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society, the New York Fed issues periodic reports on credit access for low-income Americans. The 2024 report examines low-income households’ access to credit, ability to repay loans, and use of mortgage refinancing through Q3 of 2023.

Household Financial Well-being
Discussing Disparities in Income Equality and Future Investment Opportunities
EVENT | JANUARY 22, 2024
This hybrid event focused on income inequalities in the U.S. economy. Speakers detailed how public policy decisions, such as the response to the 2008 financial crisis, and private sector actions, such as outsourcing, have exacerbated inequality. The event focused on how investments such as early childhood education and increases in wages and benefits could improve incomes for families.

Household Financial Well-being
What Would It Take to Create a More Robust Secondary Market for CDFI Loans?
BY JACOB SCOTT, MARIA CARMELITA RECTO, AND JONATHAN KIVELL | JANUARY 8, 2024
A more robust secondary market for loans originated by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which specialize in lending to low- and moderate-income communities, would give CDFIs greater access to capital, thus allowing them to make more loans. Our Community Development team looks at how that secondary market could be expanded. Read related case study.

Household Financial Well-being
An Economy That Works for All: Measurement Matters
EVENT | JANUARY 17, 2024
On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, the New York Fed hosted the third annual An Economy That Works for All event. The event focused on the importance of measuring equitable growth, the impacts of small business’ access to capital, closing the digital divide and mitigation strategies for natural disasters. New York Fed President John C. Williams delivered opening remarks.

Household Financial Well-being
The Role of Fintech in Unsecured Consumer Lending to Low- and Moderate-Income Individuals
BY AMBIKA NAIR, AND ELDAR BEISEITOV | NOVEMBER 21, 2023
As part of its work on household financial well-being, the New York Fed's Community Development team researched the growth in unsecured consumer lending and the role fintech firms have played in that growth, particularly in lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers.

Household Financial Well-being
Intermediating Impact: Financial Innovations That Are Creating Opportunity-Rich Neighborhoods
EVENT | NOVEMBER 14, 2023
On Tuesday, November 14, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York hosted an in-person event focused on how joint efforts by impact investors and the community development finance sector can foster opportunity-rich neighborhoods and lead to a stronger economy.

Household Financial Well-being
Sizing the CDFI Market: Understanding Industry Growth
BY JACOB SCOTT, MARIA CARMELITA RECTO, AND JONATHAN KIVELL | AUGUST 9, 2023
The report finds assets held by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have nearly tripled in the last five years, reaching more than $450 billion, as more depository institutions, such as credit unions and banks, became certified as CDFIs. The number of CDFI credit unions almost doubled during this period, growing from 290 in 2019 to 529 in 2023.

Household Financial Well-being
Investing in Workers: Challenges and Solutions for Wealth Building for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers
EVENT | MAY 23, 2023
On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, hosted an in-person event exploring how some companies are seeking to increase low- and moderate-income workers’ wealth through investments in ownership and employee benefits.

Household Financial Well-being
Private Capital Investment in Multifamily Affordable Housing
EVENT | MARCH 27, 2023
On Monday, March 27, 2023, the New York Fed hosted an in-person-only event focused on private capital investment in affordable multifamily rentals. The event covered policy issues related to tenants and affordability restrictions; strategies used by investment managers in deploying capital; and investor motivations in this asset class. Read related case study.

Household Financial Well-being
Advancing Equitable Outcomes: A Roadmap for Investors
EVENT | MARCH 16, 2023
On Thursday, March 16, the New York Fed, along with CapEQ and PolicyLink, hosted a virtual event exploring how financial institutions can become more inclusive and discussed the forthcoming “Investor Blueprint for Racial and Economic Equity,” a new framework for how investors can strengthen governance and culture, reevaluate risk, and address economic instability.
Household Financial Well-being
A Case Study of Managers of Multifamily Affordable Housing Private Investment Vehicles
BY Jonathan Kivell & Maria Carmelita Recto | MARCH 6, 2023
The case study focuses on survey responses from managers of private investment vehicles in multifamily affordable housing. The majority of respondents say they anticipate raising more equity in the next 12 to 24 months than they did in a roughly five-year period ending in August 2022. Additionally, respondents plan to more than quintuple their investment in new construction projects in the next 12 to 24 months.
Household Financial Well-being
An Economy That Works for All: Moving Towards Equitable Growth
EVENT | JANUARY 17, 2023
On Tuesday, January 17, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York hosted a hybrid event centered on achieving equitable growth. Panels focused on broadband access, small business funding, and natural disasters and resiliency.
Household Financial Well-being
Affordable Housing for Seniors: Challenges and Opportunities for Service-Enriched Properties in the Second District
EVENT | OCTOBER 26, 2022
On Wednesday, October 26, 2022, the New York Fed hosted an in-person event on the need for affordable housing that includes services for low- and moderate-income older adults in the Second District. The event brought together policymakers, financers, developers, and senior housing advocates to discuss both barriers and successful models.
Household Financial Well-being
Economic Inequality Policy Series: The Impacts of the 2021-2022 Rise in Inflation on Communities of Color
EVENT | OCTOBER 18, 2022
On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the New York Fed hosted a virtual forum on the disparate impacts of inflation on different racial and ethnic groups. The forum highlighted research on economic inequality. Community development and thought leaders also discussed insights related to price stability and racial equity.
Household Financial Well-being
The Role of FinTech in Unsecured Consumer Lending to Low- and Moderate-Income Individuals
EVENT | SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
On Thursday, September 29, the New York Fed hosted a virtual event on the role of financial technology (FinTech) companies in unsecured consumer lending to low- and moderate-income households, featuring FinTech lenders, researchers, regulators, and policymakers.
Household Financial Well-being
Debt: When it Helps, When it Hurts, What it Could Do to Build Household Wealth
EVENT | JUNE 9, 2022
Hosted in partnership with the St. Louis Fed and the Aspen Institute, this event featured contributors to the book, “The Future of Building Wealth,” and showcased research and solutions aimed at mitigating burdensome and wealth-depleting debt, while improving the use of wealth-building debt.
Household Financial Well-being
Investing in Rural Prosperity
BY ANDREW DUMONT | MAY 24, 2021
An exploration of the book, “Investing in Rural Prosperity,” which seeks to help people living in rural areas navigate the challenges and opportunities they face to achieve a prosperous future.
Household Financial Well-being
Closing Remarks at “Money and Mission: Creating 21st Century Capital Markets for Better Social Outcomes”
BY ELLEN SIMON | MAY 26, 2022
The New York Fed hosted a discussion on the potential of philanthropy to act as both a source of capital and a model for the fundamental changes needed to address today’s challenges.
Household Financial Well-being
Expanding Opportunity: Investing in Employment Social Enterprise
EVENT | APRIL 7, 2022
This hybrid event focused on the significant economic benefits of expanding job and career opportunities for people who often encounter hurdles to employment, including people who have experienced incarceration, homelessness, foster care, and other challenges.
Household Financial Well-being
New York’s Eviction Moratorium Ended. What Comes Next for Renters and Landlords?
BY MARIA CARMELITA RECTO & EDISON REYES | MARCH 11, 2022
The New York Fed invited local and regional legal aid experts, housing advocates, county welfare leaders, and others to discuss implications of the moratorium’s expiration for tenants, property owners, and lenders. Read key takeaways from the discussion.
Household Financial Well-being
The State of Low-Income America: Credit Access and Debt Payment
BY CLAIRE KRAMER MILLS, REBECCA LANDAU, BELICIA RODRIGUEZ & JOELLE SCALLY | MARCH 1, 2022
The report examines debt holdings across income groups and finds that although the COVID pandemic has taken a heavier toll on lower-income Americans, most borrowers—including those in lower-income areas—have been managing their financial responsibilities and debt repayments.
Household Financial Well-being
Fostering Low-Income Homeownership: Challenges and Opportunities
BY EDISON REYES | DECEMBER 14, 2021
Following our event on Fostering Low-Income Homeownership discussing the latest research on mortgage forbearance and refinancing, these key takeaways provide insights on preparing low-income families for home ownership how banks and financial institutions can address hurdles to first-time homebuying for low-income families.
Household Financial Well-being
Investing in Rural Prosperity
EVENT | May 24, 2021
An exploration of the book, “Investing in Rural Prosperity,” which seeks to help people living in rural areas navigate the challenges and opportunities they face to achieve a prosperous future.
Household Financial Well-being
On-Time Rental Payments Helping to Pave the Road to Homeownership
EVENT | December 7, 2021
One hurdle to homebuying is that credit scores—which are key factors in mortgage underwriting—typically do not reflect on-time rental payments. Fannie Mae recently said it would incorporate on-time rental payments in the evaluation of mortgage applications of first-time homebuyers, a significant change to housing finance in the United States.
Household Financial Well-being
An Economy That Works for All: Fostering Low-Income Homeownership
EVENT | November 18, 2021
The November 18 virtual event featured presentations by researchers at Federal Reserve Banks on disparities across income and ethnicity in home ownership, and the latest research on mortgage forbearance, refinancing, and mortgage prepayment. In addition, financial and banking sector leaders discussed address hurdles to first-time homebuying.
Household Financial Well-being
Current Responses to Housing Insecurity: A Focus on Vulnerable Residential Renters and Landlords
BY Dyvonne Body, Rebecca Landau, Edison Reyes & Vincent Reina | September 23, 2021
The New York Fed and the University of Pennsylvania’s Housing Initiative at Penn released a white paper on the nation’s looming eviction crisis, highlighting city and state programs that are keeping families in their homes. The paper also spotlights initiatives to collect reliable data on renters and landlords, as comprehensive data on both is limited.
Household Financial Well-being
Household Financial Stability: Understanding the $400 Question
BY Maria Carmelita Recto, Rebecca Landau, Edison Reyes & Javier Silva, | May 14, 2021
For more than a third of adults around the country, an unexpected $400 expense would be a financial emergency. Our team will be looking for workable, scalable solutions that would help households increase their savings—and decrease their financial stress.
Household Financial Well-being
LSE Blog Series on Economic Inequality: Financial Intermediation and Inequality
BY New York Fed | June 30, 2021
The Liberty Street Economics blog’s latest series examines how a lack of access to a bank transaction account, overdraft fee caps, and exclusion from credit access can have potential adverse effects on financial health, educational opportunities and welfare, and aggravate economic inequality.
Household Financial Well-being
Covid-19: Information, Research & Analysis and Resources
BY New York Fed | 2021
Resources include materials (web pages, blogs, reports, articles, and videos) from the New York Fed, other Federal Reserve Banks, the Federal Reserve System, along with other external organizations.
Household Financial Well-being
The COVID-19 Eviction Cliff: Key Issues and Insights to Help Mitigate a Crisis
BY New York Fed, Philadelphia Fed, & LISC | December 22, 2020
The white paper summarizes the New York Fed’s Community Development  December 2020 convening with academics, capital providers, developers, nonprofits, and advocates to discuss the looming evictions crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Household Financial Well-being
The State of Low Income America: Credit Access & Debt Payment
BY Claire Kramer Mills, Rebecca Landau & Joelle Scally | November 2020
This report outlines key takeaways about the debt holdings and credit access of low income Americans during the economic expansion and through the first half of 2020.
Household Financial Well-being
Economic Inequality Policy Series: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Communities of Color and Policy Insights for an Equitable Economic Recovery
EVENT | September 24, 2020
The forum highlighted the New York Fed’s recent research and looked at the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. The event followed a forum in June, “An Update from the Experts: COVID-19’s Impact on Housing,” which highlighted research on the housing market and included conversations with policy-influencers on the impact of the pandemic on homeowners and renters.
Household Financial Well-being
Double Jeopardy: COVID-19's Concentrated Health and Wealth Effects in Black Communities
by Claire Kramer Mills & Jessica Battisto | August 4, 2020
Counties with the highest density of COVID-19 cases are also areas with the highest concentration of Black businesses and networks. Our analysis shows stark PPP coverage gaps in these hardest hit communities.
Household Financial Well-being
An Update from the Experts: COVID-19’s Impact on Housing
EVENT | June 25, 2020
The New York Fed, in collaboration with the Urban Institute and NYU Furman Center, hosted its second event in a series of discussions on economic inequality on June 25, 2020.
Household Financial Well-being
Credit Conditions
by New York Fed | May 2020
The New York Fed provides research and tools that examine the financial well-being of communities so that policymakers, service providers, and other community leaders can more effectively channel resources to those in need.
Household Financial Well-being
Community Credit: A New Perspective on America's Communities
By New York Fed | May 4, 2020
Community Credit is a new way to understand the economic well-being of communities by examining the credit behavior of households.
Household Financial Well-being
Well-being Across America: More Unequal, More Insecure
Event | December 17, 2019
On December 17, the New York Fed held an event to examine the latest community credit data analysis and explore how other data tools shed light on existing inequalities across communities in America. The event explored how policy-influencers and practitioners are utilizing data to tackle some of the greatest inequalities our communities are facing, and how evidence-based data increases greater understanding of well-being of communities.
Household Financial Well-being
Unequal Access to Credit: The Hidden Impact of Credit Constraints
BY Kausar Hamdani, Claire Kramer Mills, Edison Reyes, and Jessica Battisto | September 2019
The Credit Insecurity Index is a new tool that helps to provide a more comprehensive view of credit access and community credit health. By moving beyond metrics that traditionally focus on residents without a credit file or score, this Index incorporates an additional assessment of residents who are "credit constrained."
Household Financial Well-being
Regional Household Debt and Credit Snapshots
BY New York Fed | Q4 2019
The Regional Household Debt and Credit Snapshots provide an overview of trends in borrowing and indebtedness at the state and local level in the Second District. They include data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOC) and delinquencies.
Household Financial Well-being
Employer Engagement by Community Colleges in New York State
BY New York Fed | 2018
Employer engagement at community colleges has become an increasingly important strategy for community colleges to help their students build the right skills for available jobs, and to help local employers find and retain workers with the skills they need. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York conducted a survey of community colleges across New York State during the months of March-May 2017 to document the amount and type of employer engagement activities by New York’s community colleges.
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