BlackRock’s ESI is helping companies and organizations to identify, shape and test solutions that will create short-term financial stability for vulnerable workers, customers and communities. As companies grapple with the long-term effects of the pandemic, the initiative will focus on building resiliency so more people will have a safety net in place for future crises. ESI research in the last year has found:

• Those with emergency savings have been half as likely to tap retirement savings during COVID-19.
• Nearly half (48%) of Black individuals have spent down savings as a result of reduced income because of COVID-19, compared with less than one-third (30%) of White individuals.