According to a 2023 Federal Reserve survey, 52 percent of US residents report that, at best, they’re just making ends meet and did not save any income in the previous month.
Only 33 percent report they live comfortably.
Yet conventional measures of economic insecurity, like the poverty rate, capture only acute need and don’t show the hardships of millions of people who struggle to pay bills and save for the future—people who are economically insecure and not poised to thrive.
To better understand families’ circumstances, their resources, and the costs of fully participating in today’s society and economy, the Urban Institute developed a “true cost of economic security” measure. We designed the measure with accuracy and replicability in mind, using high-quality publicly accessible data collected regularly to capture variations across states and all areas, allowing us to explore differences by age, family structure, and race and ethnicity.
Join the Urban Institute for a discussion on the new measure and how policymakers and researchers can leverage insights from this research to improve American families’ well-being.
This event will be held virtually on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. ET.
