Usage and Impact of Benefits Among Frontline Healthcare Workers

We completed a study about frontline healthcare workers – the benefits they get through work and how they are doing financially. This brief provides highlights from our survey to 2,321 workers and interviews with 30 workers

Income Loss and Financial Distress during COVID-19: The Protective Role of Liquid Assets

Nearly a quarter of U.S. households have experienced job or income losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liquid assets mitigate financial distress in the face of financial shocks such as job loss, yet this relationship in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. households (N = 4,383) who completed a survey in the early days of the pandemic, we examined pre-pandemic liquid assets as a moderator of the relationship between job and income loss and difficulty meeting financial obligations and use of high-cost financial resources. Estimates from propensity score-weighted linear probability models indicated that greater liquid assets lessened the probability of experiencing all eight measures of financial distress and most measures of distress among households experiencing job or income losses. Policy efforts to help households build emergency savings can help households better prepare for future pandemics while also supporting public health responses

Evidence-Based Practice in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations

Engaging in evidence-based practice (EBP) is one of the key ways nonprofit human service organizations (NPHSOs) can improve programs to better respond to community needs. However, to identify, adapt, implement, and sustain EBPs requires capacity, which many smaller NPHSOs lack in areas like evaluation. Capacity-building may help NPHSOs further engage in EBP, yet more knowledge is needed concerning valid ways to measure NPHSO capacity and the impacts of capacity-building related to EBP. The aims of this study are to 1) develop a model with testable hypotheses concerning the effect of organizational factors on EBP engagement in NPHSOs; 2) identify a valid way to measure NPHSO capacity; and 3) assess NPHSO capacity-building outcomes related to EBP engagement. In Chapter 1, a brief overview of the key challenges confronting NPHSOs is provided. EBP is reviewed as a promising strategy for confronting these challenges and discussed in relation to NPHSO characteristics. In Chapter 2, a conceptual model explaining EBP engagement as the use of best available evidence to inform programming decisions in NPHSOs is presented. Research evidence concerning capacity and readiness factors which promote EBP engagement is reviewed. The perceived advantage of EBP engagement and alignment of evidence with NPHSOs' mission and capacity are presented as factors mediating the relationship between readiness and EBP engagement. In Chapter 3, confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the fit of three different models for measuring NPHSO capacity. A model with four sub-scales related to resource development, program development, management, and governance capacity fit the data well, while two models with a larger number of items assessing organizational performance did not. In Chapter 4, the effects of capacity-building on evaluation in NPHSOs are assessed using subset efficacy analysis. NPHSOs that received evaluation-related capacity-building assistance experienced statistically significant gains in four of five evaluation capacities compared to a control group after controlling for organizational characteristics, motivation to receive assistance, and amount of financial assistance. Lastly, in Chapter 5, key findings are synthesized, limitations are delineated, and practice, policy, and research implications are described.Doctor of Philosoph

DEMOCRATIZING THE ECONOMY OR INTRODUCING ECONOMIC RISK? GIG WORK DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Though the growth of the gig economy has coincided with increased economic precarity in the new economy, we know less about the extent to which gig work (compared with other self-employment arrangements and non-gig work) may fuel economic insecurity among American households. We fill this gap in the literature drawing on a sample of 4,756 workers from a unique national survey capturing economic hardships among non-standard workers like app-and platform-based gig and other self-employed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from generalized boosted regression modeling, utilizing machine learning to account for potential endogeneity, demonstrated that gig workers experienced significantly greater economic hardship than non-gig and other self-employed workers during the pandemic. For example, gig workers were more likely to experience food insecurity, eviction, and skipped-medical treatment compared with non-gig and other self-employed workers during the pandemic. While household liquid assets endowment prior to the pandemic reduced the effect of gig work on experiencing economic hardships, having dependent children in the household increased this effect. Thus, contrary to democratizing entrepreneurship opportunities, these findings suggest that the expansion of the gig economy may exacerbate labor market inequality, with wealth-endowed families being protected against adverse economic consequences of the gig economy. We discuss the implications of these findings for inequality reducing labor market policies, including policies that account for the interconnectedness of family and the labor market

Timely and Well-Targeted Financial Assistance during COVID-19

The Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis partnered with PerkUp Financial Health LLC, a financial services technology company, to study an emergency financial assistance program offered to employees of three hotels in New Orleans, LA who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. PerkUp serves as a technology hub for a collaboration of non-profit partners that deliver financial support services and innovative products to employees of participating companies. The array of financial health services available through the PerkUp platform provides a financial safety net for the most financially vulnerable employees

Policy Recommendations for Financial Capability and Asset Building by Increasing Access to Safe, Affordable Credit

Strong credit is a prerequisite for financial well-being, but many U.S. consumers lack access to safe and affordable credit options. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies policies that would enable households to build and maintain credit and that would ensure access to credit products with adequate consumer protections

Experimental Evidence on Consumption, Saving, and Family Formation Responses to Student Debt Forgiveness

As policy-makers grapple with whether or not to forgive student debt, for who, and how much, it is important to explore how student debt forgiveness would relate to intended household decisions and behaviors. We conducted a survey experiment that asked participants with student debt to imagine a scenario in which the federal government forgave a certain amount of student debt. We then had these participants report on how this would affect their decisions and behaviors. 1,053 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions that offered $5,000,$10,000, $20,000, and complete debt forgiveness. Our results indicate that student debt is strongly influencing intended decisions and behaviors that can have large implications for household economic stability (e.g., emergency savings) and mobility (e.g., saving for a down payment on a home). These results also demonstrate that the amount of student debt forgiveness matters, with larger amounts of forgiveness more effectively motivating both short- and long-term saving and investment intentions. Finally, we also observe that the proportion of student debt forgiven and the income of the borrower alter the relationships between the amount of debt forgiven and intended behaviors

Policy Recommendations for Helping U.S. Households Build Emergency Savings

In households without emergency savings, an unexpected expense or financial shock can heighten stress and threaten the ability to meet basic needs. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies three types of policies to enable U.S. households to save for emergencies

Policy Recommendations for Expanding Access to Banking and Financial Services

Access to financial services is a necessity in the modern economy, yet many households lack such access. This brief, released through the Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative’s network toBuild Financial Capability for All, identifies policies with the potential to expand access to financial services for households in the United States

Social Workers’ Interest in Building Individuals’ Financial Capabilities

Social workers have many opportunities to integrate a focus on personal finance into their practice with mostly lower-income and vulnerable client populations. However, little is known about social workers’ interest in personal finance. Results of a survey of social workers (N = 56) interested in integrating personal finance content into their practice are reported in this paper. Ways in which social workers might further develop knowledge and skills in personal finance are discussed. Professional perspectives that social workers may lend to inform financial education and counseling and the emerging field of financial therapy are also explored. Social workers can offer an understanding of the environmental risks that affect the financial health of low-income individuals and families and resources that can help build financial capability