The Aspen Institute

Income volatility is a critical issue for understanding financial security today, which is why Aspen FSP is devoting the inaugural year of its new knowledge-synthesis initiative, the Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC), to the issue. EPIC aims to be an evidence-based forum for gaining clarity about the nature of the problem, its evolution, its significance, and our options for responding. This issue brief – built on a comprehensive literature review by Aspen FSP staff – is a first step, designed to provide a common frame of reference and facilitate a shared understanding of existing evidence and directions for future research.