CHALLENGE

For more than two decades, the “financial health” sector has worked to expand access to banks and financial services for people and households with low incomes, in an effort to help them better save, spend, borrow, and plan for the future. And while the sector has been successful—today, 1 in 20 U.S. households lack access today, compared to 1 in 5 two decades ago—it’s become clear that financial health goes far beyond banks, income, or credit scores. Just as building physical health requires access to things like stable housing, nutritious food, good jobs with fair pay, and clean water, financial health similarly encompasses a broad range of factors – from predictable wages and benefits to manageable debt, emergency savings, and adequate insurance – to name but a few examples.

OUR APPROACH

Burness is helping the Financial Health Network (FHN) to build awareness of the broader forces influencing financial health—including climate change, an aging population, increasing racial diversity, and the evolving nature of work. This work is guided by an advisory council with representatives of organizations including Jobs for the Future, AARP, UnidosUS, Kaiser Permanente, Opportunity Finance Network, Aspen Institute and the Bipartisan Policy Center. Our primary communications objectives are to help new sectors see themselves as financial health advocates and promote innovative solutions supported by research.  

RESULTS AND IMPACT

Our ongoing work is helping FHN connect its research to real-world challenges, from extreme weather events that threaten homes, jobs, and businesses to the rising cost of essentials like rent, food, insurance, healthcare, and childcare. We are also helping to promote a series of policy briefs, drafting blogs and op-eds, supporting a series of events, and providing strategic guidance to FHN leadership. This marks our second engagement with FHN, following the promotion of the U.S. Financial Diaries, which documented the financial lives of families with low and moderate incomes.