The Aspen Institute

The health crisis of COVID-19 and subsequent effects on the U.S. economy have propelled to the spotlight the issue of financial security at the household level. Issues like paid leave, dependent care, housing instability, student loan debt, and debt collections were challenges to tens of millions of families across America long before the pandemic emerged – and if we don’t make key changes, they will dampen the economic recovery of our nation.

The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program will bring you the research, knowledge, and policies that can help businesses and policymakers triage the immediate effects of the current pandemic, design solutions allowing households to recover, and address the structural challenges to stabilize financial security at the household level.

Join our new series: Conversations in Financial Security in Response to COVID-19: How to Triage, Recover, and Stabilize

• Building Financial Security in a COVID-19 World: Triage, Recover, Stabilize. In Conversation with Ida Rademacher, Vice President at The Aspen Institute and Joanna Smith-Ramani, Managing Director at The Aspen Institute, on Wednesday, April 15 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Stress Test: People, Technology, and the Safety Net in Response to COVID-19. In conversation with Rose Afriyie of mRelief, Lou Moore of Code for America, and Trooper Sanders of Benefits Data Trust, on Wednesday, April 29 at 1 pm Eastern. 
• The State of Housing: Will Cancelling Rent and Halting Evictions Lead to Recovery? Featured interview between Secretary Julián Castro and Conor Dougherty of the New York Times. Expert panel to feature Alanna McCargo of Urban Institute, Sarah Yaussi of National Multifamily Housing Council, and Barry Zigas of Consumer Federation of America, on Wednesday, May 6 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Cash Infusions: Stability Now, Security Later In conversation with Charlie Anderson of the office of Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mia Birdsong of the Economic Security Project, Aisha Nyandoro of Springboard To Opportunities, Ameya Pawar Former Chicago Alderman, Prashanthi Ravanavarapu of PayPal, Lauren Renaud of FII, and Helah Robinson of LIFT, on Wednesday, May 13 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Student Loan Debt: Is Cancellation What Our Economy Needs? In conversation with Joanna K. Darcus of National Consumer Law Center, Marco Di Maggio of Harvard Business School, and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of the Washington Post, on Wednesday, May 20 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Managing, Collecting, and Forgiving Consumer Debt: Lessons for Policymakers and Business Leaders In conversation with Laura Berlind of The Sycamore Institute, Mayor Melvin Carter of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Jerry Nemorin of LendStreet, and Karen Biddle Andres, on Wednesday, May 27 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Paid Leave, Livable Wage, Affordable Care: Policies that Could Avert the Next Crisis In conversation with Shana Bartley of the National Women’s Law Center, Dominique Derbigny of Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap, Jamie Kalamarides of Prudential Group Insurance, Julie Kashen of the Century Foundation, and Ai-jen Poo of National Domestic Workers Alliance, on Wednesday, June 3 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Emergency Savings – Are we Re-Learning Lessons or Have we Reached its Limits? In conversation with David Derryck of SaverLife, Wendy De La Rosa of Common Cents Lab, David Newville of Prosperity Now, and Deborah Winshel of BlackRock, on Wednesday, June 10 at 1 pm Eastern.
• When Retirement Savings meets Economic Crisis: Lessons from COVID-19 In conversation with Carl Camden of iPSE-U.S., Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs, and Nari Rhee of UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, on Wednesday, June 17 at 1 pm Eastern.
• Recovery, Re-Employment, and Re-Imagining Work In conversation with Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Ifeoma Ajunwa of Cornell Law School, Anmol Chaddha of Institute for the Future, Rachel Lauter of Fair Work Center, and Shamina Singh of Mastercard, on Wednesday, July 1 at 1pm Eastern.

We want to hear from you! The needed response to America’s financial security is continuously evolving, and we welcome suggestions to inform the development of this series. Please share your comments using this form.