Facing a financial shock
There’s a cliff that so many of our families are standing on. They are staring down at the edge and one small thing could be just enough to throw them over.
Where we are
Millions of American families face financial shocks every year like an unexpected medical bill, the loss of income, a raise in rent, or loans coming out of deferment.
As a result of a tangled web of information about services, burdensome application processes, and payment systems, many families miss out on getting critical support to re-establish financial stability. More than a quarter of eligible people facing a financial shock receive no help from any Federally funded program, and Benefits Data Trust estimates that across just five programs, more than $60 billion/year in benefits are unclaimed1. And even for the families that do get access to benefits, millions waste countless hours and miss important days of work getting the help they qualify for and need. Transitioning to better jobs often requires training and gaining new skills, but this can be difficult for people to manage while still working to cover day-to-day essentials.
Of Americans who face a financial shock, 38% of Americans would face difficulty absorbing an emergency expense of $400.2
1 in 4 workers rely on safety net benefits at some point each year.3
1 Source: Benefits Data Trust
2 Source: Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2021, Federal Reserve
Our approach
To start, we listened to people’s stories.
The Life Experience research team spoke with people nationwide about this moment in their lives and where the government process could have been simpler and more helpful. The listening sessions captured honest conversations about peoples' experiences, candid feedback on what could have worked better, and what really made a difference for them. Their stories have been combined and are represented here through illustrations. The quotes are real, but names have been changed.
The team conducted interviews in-person, virtually, in English, and in Spanish. Participants included people nine states and territories who represent a variety of life experiences—including those vulnerable to shocks, such as low-wage workers.
The team spoke with:
- 61 members of the public
- 12 frontline staff
- 17 state/program administrators
- 33 subject matter experts
Discovery insights
Framing for collective thinking about customer pain points
How might we improve people’s experience navigating and applying for different benefits at the same time to increase awareness, avoid confusion and redundancy, thereby improving efficiency for both program administrators and customers?
How might we encourage states and localities to use their federal funds to help people more quickly re-establish stability with available resources, and design with the most common financial shocks that may occur in mind?
How might we think about recovery and resiliency to include how we empower people through career transitions to better jobs and lasting stability?
Next steps
Teams are currently working on identifying and scoping projects to move into the design phase. Please check back on this page in the coming months for updates.
Project Documentation
- Project Charter
- Project One-Sheet
- Customer Journey Map & Stories
- Information collection approved under OMB Control #3206-0276
- Life Experience Initiative Summary
- Executive Order 14058
- President’s Management Agenda
Agency collaborators
- General Services Administration
- Department of Labor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Agriculture
- Office of Management and Budget
- Department of Education
- Department of Health & Human Services
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- Social Security Administration