Given the Boston Fed’s mission to promote a strong, resilient economy that works for all—and our mandate to pursue price stability and maximum employment—the community development function gathers insights about how economic conditions are impacting households in the region, conducts research to share with local efforts, and convenes and connects stakeholders.

We look beyond the national or regional aggregate numbers, because understanding how different people and places experience the economy helps the Fed fulfill its mandates. For example, pursuing price stability is enhanced by understanding inflation’s impact on people across the income distribution and in all geographic areas. Similarly, pursuing maximum employment requires us to understand the range of experiences for various people and places beyond what is evident in broad national data.

In this context, the community development team at the Boston Fed has a longstanding interest in identifying wealth gaps. Wealth, or savings, provides a buffer for economic hardship and may preserve access to the labor market. Access to savings may also enable investment in education and training that helps future labor market outcomes.

Our current priorities in this area include:

• A multiyear research initiative to explore household finances and wealth accumulation across Massachusetts—rural, urban, and suburban areas—working with a group of private-sector organizations. Goals of Mass ECHOS include generating robust baseline estimates of family wealth across Massachusetts, understanding wealth differences for populations and geographies, and modeling the potential impacts of efforts to help households participate in the economy and build prosperity.

• The Solutions Accelerator (Accelerator) fosters innovation in financial products and services that build economic stability and prosperity for households earning low-and-moderate incomes. The Boston Fed's community development function shares data and serves as a thought partner for organizations collaborating to research new ideas and expand access to financial solutions at scale. The Accelerator focuses on innovations that could help people build financial assets, mitigate debt, or protect existing assets.