Analyzing Family Participation and Economic Mobility on UpTogether

Background

The Family Independence Initiative (FII) empowers low-income families by providing financial resources and access to UpTogether, an innovative platform that helps families build supportive networks, set achievable goals, and track progress towards economic stability. To enhance their impact and refine program strategies, FII sought to analyze family engagement patterns, retention behaviors, and the socioeconomic outcomes reported by participants.

Project Details

Partnering with FII, the SUDS team conducted an in-depth analysis of user engagement and socioeconomic outcomes reported through UpTogether. The project leveraged detailed family-reported data covering income changes, social network growth, and interaction with financial resources provided by FII. The analysis included:

• User Retention Analysis: Determining critical periods of family disengagement from the UpTogether platform, identifying key predictors of sustained engagement.
• Income and Engagement Patterns: Exploring how increases in household income correlate with continued participation or disengagement, to identify if reaching financial stability impacts ongoing platform usage.
• UpTogether Fund Usage Study: Evaluating whether access to unconditional cash grants influenced participant retention and long-term engagement.
• Visualization of Trends: Creating comprehensive visual representations of engagement patterns and socioeconomic trajectories to illustrate the platform’s impact clearly.

Deliverables

• R Markdown Reports: Interactive, detailed reports showcasing data-driven insights into family engagement, retention patterns, and economic progression on the UpTogether platform.
• Engagement and Retention Insights: Clear identification of factors associated with sustained family engagement, drop-off triggers, and socioeconomic improvements.
• Income and Participation Correlation Analysis: Rigorous examination of the relationship between income growth and platform engagement behaviors.
• Strategic Recommendations: Actionable insights provided to FII for enhancing the UpTogether platform’s impact and participant retention.

Outcomes

The insights from this analysis significantly enhanced FII’s understanding of family engagement and economic mobility patterns, directly informing strategies to strengthen and expand the platform’s impact. By identifying critical factors influencing participant retention and financial outcomes, the project empowered FII to refine their intervention models, improve platform experiences, and maximize the long-term benefits for the families they support. Ultimately, this collaboration contributed meaningfully to FII’s mission of fostering economic stability, resilience, and community-driven prosperity.