Helping Each Other in Times of Need: Financial Help as a Means of Coping with the Economic Crisis

Reports of the effects of the global economic crisis continue to dominate the headlines. In the United States, large drops in the housing market and a glut of risky mortgages have led to a spate of foreclosures. Many households have seen their retirement savings depleted as stock values have plummeted. Rising unemployment threatens the economic security of a growing number of families. How are U.S. households coping in these difficult times? One way is by reaching out to support each other financially. In late 2008 and then again in early 2009, the RAND Corporation conducted two Internet surveys on the effects of the economic crisis, including the importance of financial help. The surveys probed • the extent to which U.S. households have been affected by the crisis • patterns of giving and receiving financial help as one means of coping with difficulties related to the crisis. The findings suggest that the nation’s troubles have affected the vast majority of Americans. The surveys also reveal marked patterns in how households have provided financial help to one another in response to the crisis, patterns that vary by income and age.