The Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) is partnering with the San Francisco International Airport to design and implement a workers fund, a portable benefit that helps private sector airport workers address and cope with unexpected financial emergencies.
The Office of Financial Empowerment partnered with theSan Francisco International Airport (SFO)to design, implement and pilot an emergency workers fund to help workers cope with a financial shock.
Problem: Nearly two-thirds of American workers would struggle to cover a $1,000 crisis. To address a financial emergency crisis, they are forced to make difficult decisions with long-term consequences y must instead rely on coping mechanisms, including taking on payday loans, that are destabilizing and can be detrimental to their health, financial well-being and employment. The struggle to cover the costs of emergencies is an issue that hits close to home for many of those who live and work in San Francisco, including the over 40,000 private sector workers at the San Francisco International Airport, half of whom earn less than $50,000 per year.
Innovation: In partnership with the San Francisco International Airport and with generous funding from The Workers Lab Innovation Fund, OFE is designing and implementing a workers fund, a portable benefit that provides workers with immediate and no-strings-attached emergency cash assistance. This workers fund will help workers manage unexpected financial shocks—a broken-down car or a trip to the emergency room—so they can address the emergency, stabilize their finances and lives, and remain in their jobs at the airport.