Consumer Finance

Our Consumer Finance Institute researches how people earn, spend, save, and invest, as well as how credit markets and payment systems affect the economy. Our goal is to foster a healthy consumer sector, a stable financial system, and a resilient regional and national economy.

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LIFE Survey Report – April 2025

This report is part of a quarterly series on key observations from the Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey. Data from the survey provide insight into consumers’ recent financial lives and their future expectations.

4-in-6 Payment Products — Buy Now, Pay Later Data from the LIFE Survey (2025)

This report presents an analysis of trends in 4-in-6 usage, demographics, and consumers’ financial health from CFI surveys collected in January 2023, January 2024, and January 2025 that cover respondents’ use of 4-in-6 payment products during the last three holiday seasons.

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Education Finance

Working Paper

The Effect of the Great Recession on Student Loan Borrowing and Repayment

WP 25-13 – We study the long-term effect of the Great Recession on federal student loan borrowing and repayment. Using detailed longitudinal data on federal student loan borrowers, we compare labor markets that faced varying degrees of unemployment severity during the economic downturn.

Mortgage Markets

Conference Summary

Workshop on Changing Demographics and Housing Demand

On October 24 and 25, 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Consumer Finance Institute (CFI) and Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) cohosted a hybrid conference on the topic of changing U.S. population demographics and their influence on housing demand and housing finance.

Man wearing a suit and glasses, sitting at a desk recording a video on a camera mounted on a tripod. The desk has a large computer monitor and an open laptop.

How Americans Use Social Media for Financial Advice

Social media has become a popular source for financial advice. Surveys indicate that people, especially those in younger generations, are increasingly turning to social media platforms for advice on various financial topics, including budgeting, saving, and investing.(1)

Two people sitting next to one another at a desk, working together. There is an open laptop with a video of a person playing, one person is looking at a tablet with a chart on it.

Trust and Credibility: Comparing Sources of Financial Advice

Financial decision-making encompasses a wide range of topics, from how to optimize day-to-day budgeting to how to maximize your retirement resources to how to pick from hundreds of investment options.