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Report
Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019
This report describes the responses to the 2019 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) as well as responses to a follow-up survey conducted in April 2020. The Federal Reserve Board has fielded this survey each fall since 2013 to understand the wide range of financial challenges and opportunities facing families in the United States.
Discussion Paper
Household Finances under COVID-19: Evidence from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
This first article looks at select results from the most recent Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), originally fielded in October 2019, and from supplemental SHED surveys fielded in April and July 2020 to measure the economic impact of the pandemic.
Report
Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019, Featuring Supplemental Data from April 2020
This report describes the responses to the 2019 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) as well as responses to a follow-up survey conducted in April 2020. The Federal Reserve Board has fielded this survey each fall since 2013 to understand the wide range of financial challenges and opportunities facing families in the United States.
Working Paper
Women's Labor Force Exits during COVID-19: Differences by Motherhood, Race, and Ethnicity
In this paper, we study declines in women's labor force participation by race and ethnicity as well as the presence of children. We find that increases in labor force exits were larger for Black women, Latinas, and women living with children. In particular, we find larger increases in pandemic-era labor force exits among women living with children under age 6 and among lower-earning women living with school-age children after controlling for detailed job and demographic characteristics. Latinas and Black women also had larger increases in labor force exits during the pandemic relative to ...
Discussion Paper
The 2009 survey of consumer payment choice
This paper presents results of the 2009 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC), along with revised 2008 SCPC data. In 2009, the average U.S. consumer held 5.0 of the nine payment instruments available, including cash, and used 3.8 of them during a typical month. Between the 2008 and 2009 surveys, a period that includes the trough of the latest recession, consumers significantly increased their use of cash and close substitutes for cash, such as money orders and prepaid cards. At the same time, consumers reduced their use of credit cards and (to a lesser extent) debit cards, as well as ...
Report
Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024
Results from the 2024 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which was fielded in October, indicate that people’s financial well-being was similar to the previous two years but below the high reached in 2021. Concerns about prices persisted, and labor market conditions remained solid. Inflation and prices continued to be the top financial concern. A majority of adults also said that changes in the prices they paid over the prior year had made their finances worse, but the share saying so declined from 2023. In response to higher prices, most people reported taking actions ...
Working Paper
Local Labor Market Tightness and Job Quality: Evidence from Job Changers
Using novel data from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, we examine how labor market tightness affects workers’ job quality. We estimate that a 10 percent increase in job vacancies not only increases the probability of changing jobs, it yields an 11–18 percent increase in the (unconditional) probability of switching to a better job overall, and one with greater pay and benefits, interest in the work, and advancement opportunities. Because tight labor markets improve both worker pay and job amenities in roughly the same proportion, their benefits to workers are ...
Report
Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018
This report describes the responses to the sixth annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED). The goal of the survey is to share the wide range of financial challenges and opportunities facing individuals and households in the United States.1 For many, the findings are positive; however, areas of distress and fragility remain. The survey also reveals how households view their own financial lives and the many decisions they face, from education to retirement.