January 2022
Introduction: Financial resilience has many definitions. More than anything, it is the ability to manage unexpected life events that threaten personal finances. Across the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic is testing the financial resilience of households. It has dramatically revealed the fragile construct upon which a large share of the population has built its financial future. Too many people lacked emergency funds even before the pandemic started. They struggled with excessive debt and lived paycheck to paycheck. Their financial vulnerability became obvious when business shutdowns or sickness cut off those income streams.