How American Families Cope In A World of Uncertainty
Presented by NYU Wagner and the Citi Foundation
Join NYU Wagner and the Citi Foundation for a special discussion with the authors of an important new book based on research co-led by NYU Wagner’s Financial Access Initiative and the Center for Financial Services Innovation.
The Financial Diaries is based on careful tracking of the financial lives of 235 American households for a year. NYU Wagner professor Jonathan Morduch and co-author Rachel Schneider of CFSI cast a light on the growing financial instability—volatile incomes, volatile expenses, less slack, more risk—Americans face. The Financial Diaries helps explain pervasive economic anxiety despite economic and employment growth and a hidden source of stubborn income and wealth inequality.
Jonathan and Rachel will share insights from their path-breaking research into the causes, effects, and implications of rising instability in the financial lives of households that we have traditionally understood as making up the heart of the working and middle class. They will be joined in conversation by NYU Wagner Dean Sherry Glied, Susan Lambert, a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar studying precarious work, and noted columnist and author Helaine Olen on the challenges and opportunities for addressing instability.
A reception to celebrate the publication of the book will immediately follow the discussion. Books will be available for purchase, and the authors will be on hand to sign.
6:00 - Pre-reception
6:20 - Discussion panel with the authors
7:30 - Reception and book signing
Book Authors
Jonathan Morduch is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, as well as a founder and Executive Director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research center focused on how financial services can better meet the needs and improve the lives of poor households around the world.
Rachel Schneider is senior vice president at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, an organization dedicated to improving the financial health of Americans. Her research has been featured in the nation’s top publications, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, and many others.