Consumer Finance

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.

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.

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)

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.

WP 25-09 – Most homeowners do not have enough insurance coverage to rebuild their house after a total loss. Using contract-level data from 24 homeowner’s insurance companies in Colorado, we show wide differences in average underinsurance across insurers that persist conditional on policyholder characteristics.