Finding a Way Forward

Previously, we explored the economic pressures facing low-income families. We showed how inflation erased a decade of wage gains for Lending Circle applicants and how the income gap between them and their neighbors widened.  

These forces shape the everyday realities of the families MAF serves. But households don’t absorb these economic shocks passively. They show up to work every day, launch businesses, and build support networks that help them find a way forward. And through it all, they hold on to the belief that better days are ahead. 

A Workforce That Keeps Showing Up

MAF client households participate in the workforce at rates above the national average and have done so consistently for nearly a decade. Between 2016 and 2024, 84% of MAF clients reported household income from formal employment, compared with 79% of households nationally. The gap between the two held year after year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment gap between clients’ households and the national average was the biggest. Many of the people we serve had to continue working in essential jobs to pay their bills, despite the health risks of in-person work. This reality is reflected in the data: from 2020 to 2022, clients reported employment rates over 7 percentage points higher than the national average.

While Lending Circle households are deeply engaged in the labor market, even high employment rates alone do not always translate into financial stability. Half of the families MAF serves rely on multiple sources of income to make ends meet.

Finding New Ways to Earn

Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the financial lives of MAF clients. On average, they report earning income through entrepreneurship at more than 2.5x the national average of 10%. 

For Susana, entrepreneurship started as a way to improve her financial standing but eventually evolved into something more meaningful:

“At first, I saw my business as a way to earn some extra income. That was probably my main motivation. But over time, my passion has become selling Mexican handicrafts and helping people, even though we may be far from our home country, keep a piece of our culture and our homeland in their homes.”

Entrepreneurship often extends beyond a temporary means of earning additional income, becoming a long-term source of earnings and a core part of household finances. As Elena put it:

“I’m always earning. I mean, I always do a lot of extra things, and that helps me a lot to make ends meet at the end of the month.”

The high rates of entrepreneurship among MAF clients reveal how low-income households create economic opportunities for themselves. For families like Susana’s and Elena’s, entrepreneurship often stems from necessity and becomes a long-term strategy for building stability on their own terms when traditional employment is not enough. 

Strength in Social Ties

Family and friends play a pivotal role when employment and entrepreneurship are still not enough to cover household expenses. Between 2016 and 2024, MAF clients reported receiving financial support from family and friends at 4x the national average.

At its peak in 2021, nearly 1 in 10 MAF families reported relying on this type of support, compared with approximately 1 in 60 families nationally.

For Marco, community is part of his financial strategy:

“I have to pay rent, go to school, and what makes it easier is having friends that I can share my apartment with or [who can] lend me money.”

When formal financial systems fall short, relationships like the ones Marco relies on fill the gap, reflecting the deep trust and mutual support often found in low-income communities. 

Hope that Persists 

As the income gap widens, wage gains are eroded by inflation, and the cost of living continues to climb, making the financial lives of low-income families far from easy. Yet despite these challenges, the families MAF serves continue to believe in the possibility of better days.

Between 2016 and 2024, 4 in 5 MAF clients reported having high or complete confidence that their future would improve. This optimism is reflected in conversations with clients like Carmen, who shared:

“The high cost of living, everything is getting more expensive, food, everything. But I am very hopeful that I will be able to move forward, not give up, and believe that things will get better, that they will improve for the better.”

Clients earning self-employment income demonstrate greater financial confidence and control: 81% feel highly confident that their financial future will improve, while 61% report feeling in control of their finances.

Hope alone does not pay the bills. But it does give people the confidence to pursue new opportunities, adapt to changing circumstances, and keep investing in a better future despite today’s challenges.

Supporting the Path Forward

MAF’s community primarily consists of low-income clients who experience financial pressures more acutely than the average American household. Inflation is making it increasingly difficult for paychecks to cover essential expenses, while a widening income gap places financial security further out of reach. Yet the families MAF serves continue to respond with determination, starting businesses, leaning on trusted relationships, and refusing to give up on the futures they envision for themselves and their children.

That resilience deserves systems that work alongside it and investments that strengthen it. In the past decade, MAF has provided more than $3 million in capital to entrepreneurs like Susana and Elena, helping them create new income streams when traditional employment falls short. And since launching Lending Circles, MAF has helped more than 15,000 people build credit, opening the door to greater financial opportunity.

The affordability crisis will not disappear overnight. In moments like these, showing up matters. Hope alone cannot overcome structural barriers, but when paired with fair financial tools, supportive communities, and investments in people’s potential, it becomes a powerful force for change.

By supporting MAF, you can help ensure that families who are already working hard to build better lives have the resources they need to succeed.