Commonwealth Gets $7M JPMorgan Funding for Low-Income Worker Program

Commonwealth, a nonprofit focused on building financial security, announced Tuesday a $7 million commitment from JPMorganChase to launch a three-year national project aimed at providing financial education and services to low- and moderate-income workers at participating employers.

According to the announcement, JPMorgan has committed the funds to develop an initiative, Benefits for the Future, trying to address the financial well-being of low- and moderate-income workers, which it notes are disproportionately made up of Black, Latinx and women-led households.

The program will offer financial services to benefits providers and employers with “significant” employee bases earning low and moderate income, defined as less than 80% of the median family income in their area. By participating in the program, the organizations will “design, test, and scale quality benefits for their employees, choosing from a variety of solutions, including debt reduction, workplace savings, and wealth-building strategies.”

Commonwealth will be starting the project in Chicago and in Columbus, Ohio, before taking it to other markets. It will also leverage the data, insights and positive results from the pilot programs to be “amplified to influence industry best practices and policy.”

In program materials, Commonwealth identified the program’s audience as employers with more than 20,000 U.S.-based employees who make less than $75,000 per year; they must also be committed to sharing insights, data and broader findings. The money from JPMorgan will fund the program for three years and should reach 2.5 million workers nationally, according to the announcement.

Commonwealth hopes to work with more than a dozen employers, though the final number may depend on the size and scope of the partnerships, according to Vice President Brian Gilmore.

“Existing Commonwealth staff, with expertise in consumer research, behaviorally informed design, workplace benefits, program evaluation, and communications will be working with employers to implement programs and projects as part of the initiative,” Gilmore says via email.

Those services will include advice on workplace financial benefit best practices; research and data to inform, co-create and structure benefits, incentives and outreach strategies; implementing the enhanced workplace benefits strategy; and help identifying any adjustments to the programs.

The pilot program’s benefit focus areas include:

• Debt reduction (student loan, medical and consumer);
• Retirement;
• Workplace savings;
• Child care costs;
• Home ownership;
• Long-term health care; and
• Wealth and asset building.

The financial services being offered to participating organizations were also touted by Commonwealth as helping “improve employee financial health, while delivering positive business outcomes such as increased worker productivity, engagement and retention.”

The nonprofit cited research from Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting noting that financial stress, even among those making at least $100,000 a year, can lead to lower productivity, “weakened” company culture and delayed retirement. Meanwhile, it cited Financial Health Network findings that fewer than one-third of workers have access to benefits that help them with financial needs.

JPMorgan’s funding is part of the firm’s work to “improve financial health outcomes for employees,” both at its own firm and among other employes, according to the announcement.

Commonwealth offers organizations the chance to set up a call to discuss the program on its website.

Commonwealth was founded in the late 1990s with the goal of reducing the cost to serve working families with new financial products, services and policies; the organization works with employers, financial services firms, recordkeepers, payroll and other workplace solutions providers.