Household Economic Security and Public Policy

There are three challenges to household economic security: Slow income growth at the lower and middle parts of the income distribution, swings in households’ use of debt and leverage, and large numbers of households with low savings. Appropriate policy responses to these include increasing worker skills through greater opportunities for education and training, removing barriers to labor force participation, strengthening the safety net, improving access to credit while reducing exposure to harmful aspects of debt use, and making retirement savings easier and more automatic.