Almost half of American families are financially insecure, and financial capability programs have the potential to provide solutions. This brief from The Pew Charitable Trusts analyzes four different types of financial capability programs for economically vulnerable Americans: literacy, counseling, coaching, and planning. Each section links to research and program examples of all four types of financial capability programs.

Many American families experience significant shifts in income from one year to the next. These shifts, known as income volatility, make it difficult for families to balance paying expenses and planning for the future. This report from The Pew Charitable Trusts analyzes the differences between families that experienced income volatility and those that did not. The researchers found that more than a third of American families experienced a large year-to-year change in income, but Hispanic families and families without a high school diploma were more likely to experience income volatility.

This report from Brookings discusses the impact of tax refunds—primarily the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit—on helping families out of poverty. Research indicates that the EITC benefits recipients in a variety of ways, including by increasing adult workforce participation and improving child health. The report includes a link to the recently updated Brookings EITC Interactive, which provides IRS data on the zip code level about where EITC filers live and additional information about the filers. Data like this can help practitioners target their work toward helping eligible families obtain assistance.

Many States offer low- and moderate-income families an additional Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in addition to the Federal EITC. In this brief from the University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy, the effect of these additional benefits on families in need is explored. Findings show that State EITC benefits help families out of poverty, and children benefit the most from these economic gains.

This toolkit from the Annie E. Casey Foundation outlines a five-step strategic finance planning process geared toward supporting programs that serve children and families. It aims to help stakeholders work together to examine what they want to finance, how their current investments align with their financing goals, and which strategies can help them achieve those goals.

This brief from the Office of Child Support Enforcement encourages eligible taxpayers to file for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Last year across the United States, about 27 million taxpayers received more than $65 billion in EITC; despite this success, about 25% of eligible filers do not claim it. The brief includes helpful information about qualification levels, useful resources, and how to claim the EITC.

Commonwealth, an Annie E. Casey Foundation grantee, recently launched an incentive program to help Americans build savings through a program called Prize Savings. Prize Savings allows Walmart MoneyCard customers to enter monthly sweepstakes that awards cash prizes when the customers elect to save. This proven strategy that motivates positive financial behaviors can help families build savings and assets.

Assets for Independence (AFI) helps provide families with individual development accounts (IDAs) that allow them to save by matching their personal savings for specific investments, such as buying a home or enrolling in higher education and training programs. The Urban Institute evaluated two Assets for Independence (AFI) program sites, Albuquerque and Los Angeles. This report presents findings that show that AFI produced a seven percentage point increase in the share of participants with liquid assets, and a $799 mean increase in liquid assets.

This blog post from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) examines promising new findings from ACF’s Assets for Independence (AFI) program. AFI was shown to increase liquid assets among participants and reduce participant use of alternative financial services. Additionally, the program participants experienced fewer material hardships and showed greater confidence in their financial security.

This eight-minute video from MDRC highlights six New York participants of the Paycheck Plus demonstration, which is testing an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income single workers without children in New York City and Atlanta.