Financial Security Network Newsletter: December 2022 No images? Click here SpotlightWorking Toward Economic Self-Sufficiency in Savannah, Georgia Throughout this year, the Financial Security Network Newsletter has aimed to amplify the work of partners and advocates in the field who are addressing the inequitable and racist barriers to financial stability and wealth-building. As we embark on year-end reflections, it is imperative to make space for new initiatives and opportunities for partnership in the upcoming year. Step Up Savannah recently launched a Public Benefits Cliff Learning Cohort to mitigate the public benefits cliff through cross-sector learning and application of best practices for the Chatham County, Georgia community. To learn more about this organization’s work, we interviewed Kimberly Paulk, the Public Benefits Program Manager at Step Up Savannah. From the FieldAdvancing Equity: The Power and Promise of Credit Building | Asset Funders Network This comprehensive brief from Asset Funders Network highlights that “credit is an essential ingredient for economic security and mobility” and then provides details on how to build credit, maintain available capital, and eventually build generational wealth and long-term financial stability. To Solve for Poverty and Inequity, Guaranteed Income Must Be Targeted | Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Guaranteed income has already been proven to liberate individuals from the stress and other negative health impacts of living paycheck to paycheck. Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity argues that guaranteed income should be a long-term policy goal following many successful demonstration pilots. Supporting the Economic Security of People Who Are Undocumented | Asset Funders Network Asset Funders Network developed slides, a webinar and a comprehensive report focusing on the exclusion of undocumented individuals from American financial systems and how to combat this discrimination through community-oriented and political means. Union-Based Apprenticeships for Young People | Urban Institute By using research conducted with three union organizations, this Urban Institute report advocates for an expansion of union-based apprenticeships for 16–24-year-old individuals. These apprenticeships allow for educational opportunities, paid work, good benefits, and the opportunity for upward mobility. In the NewsHousehold Debt Is Currently Soaring | Essence According to a CNBC report, household debt is rising at its fastest rate in 15 years, with the total American household debt reaching $16.5 trillion. Mortgage, credit card, and auto loan balances all continued to rise in the third fiscal quarter of 2022. D.C. Tipped Worker Wage Vote Portends Action From More States | Bloomberg Law As Washington D.C. voters overwhelmingly voted to raise the wages of tipped workers to the standard minimum wage, more of the same measures are expected to be put up for a vote or become policy proposals at the state level across the U.S. Tackle the ‘credit invisibles’ to help close the racial wealth gap | Financial Times “Tens of millions of Americans, many of them from minority groups, are paying more than they should for cars and houses because traditional lenders are underestimating their creditworthiness.” To close the racial wealth gap, experts argue that those with a limited or nonexistent credit history need special protection to avoid paying more than they should. |