Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
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Financial Security at the Core: Building a Benefits Infrastructure Supporting Connection, Care, and Confidence for All Workers

September 12, 2022
Financial Security Program

Rachel Black

Former Policy Advisor

Benefits are foundational to achieving financial security, yet many workers and their families lack these critical supports. This report identifies a starting point for building a core set of benefits that all workers need to support their well-being and live economically dignified lives. To do so, Aspen FSP has undertaken a series of multi-method research activities with cross-sector stakeholders–from benefit leaders within government and the private sector to workers themselves–to answer three key questions:

  1. What role do benefits play in the financial lives of workers?
  2. What needs are most foundational to the design of a core bundle of benefits that ensures the well-being of all workers?
  3. What other factors are essential for effectively designing and delivering benefits to ensure workers’ well-being?

Key Findings from this report:

  • Key Finding: Existing benefits perform inconsistently in supporting these needs, creating disparities in worker well-being. Key features that boost performance include reliability, sufficiency, and trust.
  • Key Finding: Benefits that support health care, paid leave, and income protection and sufficiency provide a minimal starting point for building a core bundle that all workers need.
  • Key Finding: Workers and benefits leaders alike see a need for a new narrative around benefits that appropriately situate their importance in people’s lives and creates a sense of ambition and urgency around modernizing the system of benefits to ensure the dignity of all workers. 

We envision a new system of benefits, designed and built as essential social infrastructure available to all workers enabling them to live lives full of connection, care, and confidence, no matter where they start or what challenges they encounter. Download the report and view 5 other key findings to see how the public and private benefits system can improve to support the well-being of all workers.

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Funder Acknowledgement

This report was developed with support from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Prudential Financial, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

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2022 Benefits Scorecard

A new framework to assess how both public and private benefits to support workers’ financial security needs.