{"id":520802,"date":"2021-07-30T10:03:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/ideas42-wells-fargo-aim-to-tackle-high-costs-of-living-in-poverty-in-the-u-s\/"},"modified":"2021-07-30T10:03:10","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T14:03:10","slug":"ideas42-wells-fargo-aim-to-tackle-high-costs-of-living-in-poverty-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/ideas42-wells-fargo-aim-to-tackle-high-costs-of-living-in-poverty-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"ideas42, Wells Fargo Aim to Tackle High Costs of Living in Poverty in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nideas42, Wells Fargo Aim to Tackle High Costs of Living in Poverty in the U.S.\n<\/p>\n

\nThree-year, $15 million initiative taps entrepreneurs to develop new technologies to alleviate hidden burdens of low-income communities, improve economic opportunity for all\n<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–
\nMillions more Americans slipped into poverty over the past year, creating fresh concerns about deeply rooted racial inequities and structural barriers to financial prosperity. Today, Wells Fargo and ideas42<\/a>, a leading nonprofit that uses insights from behavioral science to drive social change, announced Shared Prosperity Catalyst<\/a>, a $15 million collaboration funded by Wells Fargo that aims to increase pathways to economic opportunity and advancement in the United States. The multiyear effort will initially focus on alleviating the disproportionate cost burdens<\/a>, both financial and nonfinancial, faced by low- and moderate-income communities, and particularly communities of color.\n<\/p>\n

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20210730005102\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Four entrepreneurs\u2014Celena Green, Dr. Kortney Ziegler, LaToria Pierce, and Santana Perez\u2014have been selected to join Ventures for Shared Prosperity to design and launch new technologies that alleviate the hidden costs of living in poverty in the U.S. (Graphic: Wells Fargo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nFor people with lower incomes, the basics of everyday life, including housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, and financial services, come with significantly higher costs. These costs may be financial, such as higher fees for accessing basic services, or the costs of everyday goods like groceries, which disproportionately affects low-income households. They may also be nonfinancial costs, which are often hidden, such as extra time and mental energy spent on care obligations and administrative hassles, or the constant stress of managing scarce resources. To address these cost burdens, four early-stage entrepreneurs will join Ventures for Shared Prosperity<\/a> \u2014 an 18-month-long challenge to kick-start new technologies that make it easier for people to access the resources needed to provide for their families and achieve financial stability.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cShared Prosperity Catalyst will expand the traditional view of what constitutes financial health, such as income, debt, and savings, to include larger structural barriers such as housing, transportation, the justice system, and employment,\u201d said Josh Wright, executive director of ideas42. \u201cTens of millions of Americans live with the effects of having too few resources and opportunities, financial volatility, and uncertainty around income and employment. Our work will enable better tools for financial, physical, and mental well-being because they will be designed with the real experts of poverty: those who have lived it and experienced its effects.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe reality is that it\u2019s expensive to be poor in America. People with lower incomes pay a much larger share of their income on housing, health care, and child care, and a premium for food and everyday necessities. Unforeseen events like traffic tickets, medical emergencies, or reduced work hours can strain household budgets and cause a chain reaction,\u201d said Darlene Goins, head of Financial Health Philanthropy and Banking Inclusion at Wells Fargo. \u201cBy reducing systemic barriers, we can create pathways to greater economic opportunity and a more inclusive future for all. Everyone benefits when more people can participate fully in the economy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Shared Prosperity Catalyst<\/i><\/a>will use a three-pronged approach to seed innovation, while simultaneously tackling the longer-term systems and policy changes needed to create more equitable financial prosperity across the U.S. Each strategy will be informed by behavioral science \u2014 the study of how people make decisions and take action in the real world \u2013 and consider the financial, physical, and mental health impacts faced by people living in poverty:\n<\/p>\n