For those earning low to moderate incomes (LMI), building emergency savings is a proven tool to enable financial resiliency and preserve retirement savings.

In our latest phase of research, Commonwealth and DCIIA RRC conducted surveys to explore incentive mechanisms tied to emergency savings plans among workers earning LMI. We sought to understand how offering small-dollar rewards could influence the possible demand for employer-sponsored emergency savings, notably oversampling for eligible participants who are Black, Latinx, and/or female.

In the survey, we asked respondents their likelihood of enrollment in an emergency savings solution, as well as the likelihood of enrollment under a certain behavioral model, including a:

• Reward for achieving a savings goal
• Reward for saving consistently
• Savings match

Read more in our report Incentives to Increase Emergency Savings Enrollment.