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.

Report
The Crisis in November: Concerns Rise as Job and Income Recovery Slow
Fresh data collected in early November from Wave 6 of the survey confirm that, despite fewer respondents reporting job loss, respondents reported larger income declines and concerns about the future continuing to grow.
Consumer Finance
What is the Consumer Finance Institute?
We study credit and payment markets to understand how they affect consumers and the economy.
Article
Health Insurance and Individual Financial Outcomes
CFI in Focus – Two recent CFI papers examine the financial outcomes for individuals affected by changes in health insurance coverage.
Report
CFI COVID-19 Survey of Consumers – Wave 5
This report shares results from Wave 5 of a national survey of consumers investigating COVID-19 impacts on job status, income, and personal financial security.
Working Paper
Concentration in Mortgage Markets: GSE Exposure and Risk-Taking in Uncertain Times
WP 20-04R - When home prices threaten to decline, large mortgage investors can benefit from fostering new lending that boosts demand. We ask whether this benefit contributed to the growth in acquisitions of risky mortgages by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) in the first half of 2007.
Discussion Paper
Reverse Mortgage Retrospective: How Recent Policy Changes Affected Government-Insured Reverse Mortgage Originations and Performance
DP 20-06 — This discussion paper analyzes the outcomes of recent policy reforms to the federally insured reverse mortgage program.
COVID-19
COVID-19 and the Philadelphia Fed
Get the Philadelphia Fed’s latest information, resources, and research on the coronavirus pandemic's impact on businesses, households, and communities.
Consumer Finance
Consumer Finance Institute Visiting Scholars
We regularly invite outside experts in consumer finance and payments to conduct independent research, collaborate with our staff economists and analysts, and participate in our events.
Working Paper
Missouri’s Medicaid Contraction and Consumer Financial Outcomes
WP 20-42 - In July 2005, a set of cuts to Medicaid eligibility and coverage went into effect in the state of Missouri.