Analyzing Income Trends and Financial Mobility on UpTogether

Background

The Family Independence Initiative (FII) actively supports low-income households by offering financial resources and access to their UpTogether platform, which enables families to strengthen community connections, establish financial goals, and track their progress. To further amplify their impact, FII aimed to better understand the income trajectories of participating families and identify factors contributing to financial stability and growth.

Project Details

The SUDS team collaborated with FII to conduct an in-depth analysis of income trends among families using the UpTogether platform over two years. The project focused on uncovering patterns that influenced financial improvement, stability, or decline, and involved:

• Income Trend Analysis: Examining detailed family income data to categorize households based on income trajectories—identifying segments experiencing growth, stability, or decline.
• Factor Identification and Pattern Recognition: Investigating shared characteristics and differences among households with varied income outcomes, providing insights into influential factors driving these changes.
• Social Capital Evaluation: Analyzing relationships between social networks, employment types, community ties, and access to financial resources to understand their role in shaping financial mobility.
• Data Visualization and Reporting: Generating accessible and actionable visualizations and statistical summaries to clearly communicate key findings and trends.

Deliverables

• Comprehensive Income Analysis Report: Interactive and visually rich R Markdown reports summarizing income trajectories and critical insights into financial mobility.
• Key Factor Identification: Detailed analysis of household characteristics associated with positive and negative income changes, highlighting potential areas for strategic intervention.
• Social Capital Impact Assessment: Clear analysis of how community connections and social networks correlate with financial outcomes, emphasizing the importance of social capital.
• Documented Codebase: A GitHub repository containing structured data processing scripts, statistical analysis methods, and clear README documentation to support future research and analysis efforts.

Outcomes

This analysis provided FII with valuable insights into the factors affecting financial stability and mobility for low-income families engaged with the UpTogether platform. By identifying and understanding the underlying drivers of income growth and stability, FII was better positioned to refine program offerings, strengthen their support models, and advocate effectively for policy changes. Ultimately, the collaboration reinforced FII’s mission to foster resilient, financially secure communities through strategic investments and empowered decision-making.