the financial lives of working americans
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The Financial Lives of Working Americans. Jonathan Morduch September 29, 2014. Leadership. Principal Investigators. Jonathan Morduch , Professor of Public Policy and Economics , New York University - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
www. USfinancialdiaries.org | ©, 2011
The Financial Lives of Working Americans
Jonathan MorduchSeptember 29, 2014
www. USfinancialdiaries.org | ©, 2011
PRELIMINARY DATA - DO NOT CITE
Leadership
• Jonathan Morduch, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, New York University
• Rachel Schneider, Senior Vice President, Insights and Analytics, Center for Financial Services innovation
Principal Investigators
The US financial diaries were created jointly by the NYU Financial Access Initiative, the Center for Financial Services Innovation, and Bankable Frontier Associates.
Daryl Collins Director
Nancy CastilloUSFD Manager
Timothy Ogden Managing Director
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PRELIMINARY DATA - DO NOT CITE
Sponsorship
Leadership support for the project is provided by the Ford Foundation and the Citi Foundation, with additional support
and guidance from the Omidyar Network.
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We have lots of annual data
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But life is lived day to day, week to week
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PRELIMINARY DATA - DO NOT CITE
US Financial Diaries
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• High frequency economic and financial data
– Interviews every 2-4 weeks over a year
• A view into hard-to-see strategies
US Financial Diaries
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Focus
Income Assets Cash flows
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Cash
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Fed Cash Product Office (April 2014)Diary of Consumer Payment Choice
USFD: 40% on average
USFD: 50% on average
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Cash in Income and Expenditures
80% of cash expenditures are < $50
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Cash spending is harder to track and
manage
Why cash matters
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Ups & downswithin the year
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Garza Family Income, California
16
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17
Turn to pawn shops, costly loans
Garza Family Income
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Income Variability
Northern California
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Predicting next month
19
Can you predict next month’s income and spending within $500?
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Poor Near Poor Low Income0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
% Households that can’t predict next month’s spending within $500
Poor Near Poor Low Income0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
% Households that can’t predict next month’s income within $500
20
Predicting next month
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Spending > income: 97% of households had at least one month with excess spending
Overdrafts: 48% had one in the last year (if had checking account); 23% had two +
Not Much Slack
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Credit cards
78% not paid in full each month
34% had a card near its maximum
Not Much Slack
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Paying the Bills
Choosing when to pay bills• Late-paying as common as payday loans
One or more weeks early
Less than 1 week early
On time Less than 1 week late
One or more weeks late
14%
26%36%
15%9%
Q: When were bills paid?
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Fundamental tradeoff
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Now LaterSoon
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The quest for control
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Q: Which of the following is more important to you?
A. Financial StabilityB. Moving up the income ladder
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Pew Survey (2011): Sample 2000 Households
Stability vs. Ladder-Climbing
Series1
85%
13%3%
Financial stability Moving up the income ladder Not sure/don't know
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USFD (2012): Sample 200 Households
Stability vs. Ladder-Climbing
Under 101% FPL 101%-201% FPL Above 201% FPL
70%80% 79%
26%16% 20%
3% 4% 2%
Financial stability Moving up the income ladder Not sure/don't know
Poor Near Poor
Moderate income
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Thank you
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