Finances

Only nine percent of 15-year-olds in the U.S. demonstrate the type of financial competency necessary to make informed decisions.

• By Terri Friedline

Support for greater flexible savings will provide a stable and desperately needed foundation.

• By Reid Cramer

A new law that restricts low-income families' access to financial assistance perpetuates a long tradition of stigmatizing the poor.

• By Aleta Sprague

Blame relative deprivation, a term suggesting that how you think about yourself depends on who you are comparing yourself with.

• By Jay Livingston

The government has called the new Rental Assistance Demonstration program the "answer" to housing woes, but there's very little evidence to support that case.

• By Rachel Cohen

Acknowledging that a previous law did not go far enough, the Defense Department says it needs to expand rules.

• By Paul Kiel

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

• By Avital Andrews

Fear of the criminal justice system can lead to negative health, financial, and educational outcomes.

• By Eric Horowitz

Probably a lot less than you think.

• By Kyle Chayka

Financial literacy promotion may sound perfectly sensible—who wouldn’t want to teach children and adults the secrets of managing money?—but in the face of recent research it looks increasingly like a faith-based initiative.

• By Helaine Olen

And that's up from just nine percent in 1980.

• By Lisa Wade

The chief preoccupation of middle-class Americans is not the dream of getting ahead, it is the fear of falling behind.

• By Chrystia Freeland