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Journal Article
Asset Diversification and Low Debt Are the Keys to Building and Maintaining Wealth
Greatly expanded access to home mortgages during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s appeared to make the American dream a reality for millions of families. Homeownership was attainable by many who, for the first time, were able to take out a mortgage with an extremely low or no down payment ? even if they had a blemished credit history or none at all. For those with access to their accumulated home equity through mortgage refinancing or other home-secured borrowing, as well as to other sources of credit, lack of available cash no longer meant that they had to delay making routine purchases, buying a ...
Journal Article
Training for Jobs in the Emerging Energy-Efficiency Industry
The nonprofit Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA) of Philadelphia, Inc. has trained about 2,000 low- and moderate-income adults and teenagers during the past 18 months for jobs in the energy-efficiency field and is simultaneously taking steps to help develop this emerging industry.
Journal Article
Opportunity for Whom? Building Wealth Through Advancing Racial Equity
America is undergoing a profound demographic shift amid rising inequality and persistent racial inequities. By 2030, the majority of workers under 25 will be people of color.1 By 2044, the majority of Americans will be people of color.2 Rising diversity is a tremendous asset ? if all people can access the resources and opportunity they need to thrive. If we want to truly build wealth in communities, we must relentlessly embrace the conviction that everyone in America can and should live in communities of opportunity, where good schools, healthy environments, safe homes, quality jobs, and ...
Journal Article
Building Opportunities and Skills for a Growing Digital Workforce
Information Technology (IT) is a sector with a high demand for skilled workers to fill jobs in U.S., regional, and local economies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although most of the employment opportunities in this sector have been advanced-skills jobs in start-ups, software and application development, and wearable technologies, there are many IT opportunities that do not fall into these categories. The need for skilled IT employees has increased across many industries. Recent initiatives and reports recognize these opportunities as a means to move entry-level workers into ...
Journal Article
Spotlight on Research: Down Payment Assistance Plays Critical Role in Affordable Homeownership
In the aftermath of the recent Great Recession, there has been a tightening in mortgage lending practices. This cautious atmosphere has been prompted in large part by the rash of foreclosures in the housing market that accompanied the financial crisis. One potential safeguard is the existence of a down payment requirement that must be met by prospective homebuyers as a condition of securing a mortgage. The rationale is that when individuals invest their own money in the form of a down payment, the potential homebuyers will be more motivated to maintain their mortgage obligations. For those ...
Journal Article
Small Businesses Report Better Financing Outcomes
Small businesses provide substantial employment and services and are an important part of the U.S. economy. One measure of small business conditions is the findings of the 2015 Small Business Credit Survey1 (SBCS). The survey, which is a collaborative effort of the community development departments of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, and St. Louis, includes responses from small businesses operating in 26 states.2 This article summarizes highlights of the 2015 SBCS.
Journal Article
Delaware Financial Education Program Enlists State Agencies, Nonprofits, and Businesses
Stand by Me (SBM), a four-year-old program created to educate Delaware residents about personal finance and motivate them to achieve financial goals, is currently being implemented by four state agencies, seven nonprofits, and about 50 businesses. The program, which is a joint initiative of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services and the United Way of Delaware, has the support of Delaware Governor Jack Markell ? a longtime proponent of financial education.
Journal Article
Mapping Our Community: Philanthropic Grant Funding for Community and Economic Development in the Third District
Along with public sources of funding, philanthropic capital can be a critical source of support for the community and economic development (CED) work of nonprofit organizations. Research by the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Atlanta examined CED grants disbursed to recipients in U.S. metro areas between 2008 and 2013, and identified characteristics that help to explain the ability of certain metro areas to attract more philanthropic funding than others. The authors examined grants for more traditional CED projects (e.g., housing rehabilitation, urban development, financial ...
Journal Article
Transportation Is a Necessary Component of Housing Equity
Those working in redevelopment have undoubtedly heard about transit-oriented development (TOD). In TOD, transit lines are the backbone of individual projects or entire centers built around a station area. TOD can reduce automobile dependency and make a community more amenable to walking and biking. More recently, equitable TOD (ETOD) has been advocated in response to the gentrification pressures that modern TODs often introduce, displacing the very people most reliant on transit out of the station area. Transportation equity is a relatively new concept to the affordable housing community. The ...
Journal Article
Are Tax Incentives the Answer to More Job Creation?
You can't discuss job creation without talking about entrepreneurship ? and that is a hot topic right now. Television shows such as Shark Tank and the film The Social Network have elevated the popularity of entrepreneurship in America. Alongside this media and entertainment interest is the explosive growth in college-level entrepreneurship education programs, which have increased from about 250 in 1985 to more than 5,000 in recent years.