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Emergency Saving and Household Hardship

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  • Leah Gjertson

Abstract

Households with limited income and wealth often struggle to access the financial liquidity needed to address unexpected expenses or income drops. Emergency savings can act as form of insurance against such economic shocks and reduce the risk of hardships that influence family wellbeing. Prior research has established that threshold amounts of liquid assets can reduce the risk of economic hardship. This study used a measure of self-reported emergency saving behavior to examine whether households who reported saving for emergencies were less likely to experience subsequent economic hardships in a longitudinal sample of households in disadvantaged neighborhoods from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections project. Results across a range of regression models suggest that households who saved for emergencies experienced slightly less overall hardship and were less likely to report several specific hardships, such as food insecurity and having a phone disconnected, three years later. This study supports the idea that small, unrestricted savings may play a protective role for low-income households. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Leah Gjertson, 2016. "Emergency Saving and Household Hardship," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:37:y:2016:i:1:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-014-9434-z
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    1. Can regulation promote financial inclusion?
      by Raian Divanbeigi in Let's Talk Development on 2019-05-09 13:24:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Fuzhong Chen & Guohai Jiang & Mengyi Gu, 2021. "Household savings and subjective wellbeing: Evidence from China," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 1489-1504, December.
    2. Doremus, Jacqueline M. & Jacqz, Irene & Johnston, Sarah, 2022. "Sweating the energy bill: Extreme weather, poor households, and the energy spending gap," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Mathieu Despard & Stephen Roll & Michal Grinstein‐Weiss & Bradley Hardy & Jane Oliphant, 2023. "Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 245-263, January.
    4. Dee Warmath & Genevieve Elizabeth O'Connor & Nancy Wong & Casey Newmeyer, 2022. "The role of social psychological factors in vulnerability to financial hardship," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1148-1177, September.
    5. Sicong Sun & Yu-Chih Chen & David Ansong & Jin Huang & Margaret S. Sherraden, 2022. "Household Financial Capability and Economic Hardship: An Empirical Examination of the Financial Capability Framework," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 716-729, December.
    6. M. M. Naeser Seldal & Ellen K. Nyhus, 2022. "Financial Vulnerability, Financial Literacy, and the Use of Digital Payment Technologies," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 281-306, June.
    7. Jun-Hong Chen & Chi-Fang Wu & Minchao Jin, 2023. "How are Income and Assets Associated with Food Insecurity? An Application of the Growth Mixture Modeling," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 959-973, February.
    8. Julie Birkenmaier & Qiang John Fu, 2021. "Is bank staff interaction associated with customer saving behavior in banks?," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 332-350, March.
    9. Maya Haran Rosen & Ofir Pinto & Olga Kondratjeva & Stephen Roll & Aytakin Huseynli & Michal Grinstein-Weiss, 2021. "Household Savings Decisions in Israel’s Child Savings Program: The Role of Demographic, Financial, and Intrinsic Factors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 368-386, June.
    10. Becca B.R. Jablonski & Joy Casnovsky & Jill K. Clark & Rebecca Cleary & Beth Feingold & Darcy Freedman & Steven Gray & Xiaobo Romeiko & Laura Schmitt Olabisi & Mariana Torres & Alexandra E. van den Be, 2021. "Emergency Food Provision for Children and Families during the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Examples from Five U.S. Cities," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 169-184, March.
    11. Min Jung Kim, 2022. "Two sides of the same coin: The simultaneous effects of spending and saving needs on budget estimation," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(4), pages 360-371, December.
    12. Terri Friedline & Zibei Chen & So’Phelia Morrow, 2021. "Families’ Financial Stress & Well-Being: The Importance of the Economy and Economic Environments," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 34-51, July.
    13. Reid Dorsey-Palmateer, 2020. "Outsized impacts of residential energy and utility costs on household financial distress," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 3061-3070.
    14. David W. Rothwell & Leanne Giordono & Robert S. Stawski, 2022. "How Much Does State Context Matter in Emergency Savings? Disentangling the Individual and Contextual Contributions of the Financial Capability Constructs," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 703-715, December.
    15. Alycia Chin & Charles J. Romeo, 2022. "Repeat use of short‐term credit: The case of deposit advance products," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 1705-1726, December.
    16. Mathieu R. Despard & Terri Friedline & Stacia Martin-West, 2020. "Why Do Households Lack Emergency Savings? The Role of Financial Capability," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 542-557, September.
    17. Bialowolski, Piotr & Weziak-Bialowolska, Dorota & McNeely, Eileen, 2021. "A socially responsible financial institution – The bumpy road to improving consumer well-being," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    18. Wookjae Heo & Eunchan Kim & Eun Jin Kwak & John E. Grable, 2024. "Identifying Hidden Factors Associated with Household Emergency Fund Holdings: A Machine Learning Application," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-39, January.
    19. Sam Bufe & Stephen Roll & Olga Kondratjeva & Stephanie Skees & Michal Grinstein-Weiss, 2022. "Financial Shocks and Financial Well-Being: What Builds Resiliency in Lower-Income Households?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 379-407, May.
    20. Christi R. Wann & Lisa A. Burke-Smalley, 2023. "Attributes of Households that Engage in Higher Levels of Family Financial Planning," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 98-113, March.
    21. Kasey J. Eickmeyer & Wendy D. Manning & Monica A. Longmore & Peggy C. Giordano, 2023. "Exploring the Married-Cohabiting Income Pooling Gap Among Young Adults," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 990-1006, December.
    22. J. Birkenmaier & Q. Fu, 2019. "Does U.S. Household Financial Access Mediate the Relationship Between a Large Income Drop and Credit Record?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 267-283, June.
    23. Chunhui Ren, 2020. "A Framework for Explaining Black-White Inequality in Homeownership Sustainability," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1297-1321, August.
    24. HanNa Lim & Su Hyun Shin & Hyunjung Ji, 2022. "The effect of natural disasters on household economic hardship during a pandemic," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 1525-1560, December.
    25. Lu Fan & Richard Stebbins & Kyoung Tae Kim, 2022. "Skint: Retirement? Financial Hardship and Retirement Planning Behaviors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 354-367, June.

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