The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation recently supported a study that represents one of the most comprehensive efforts to understand economic challenges among members of the Jewish community in the United States. On the Edge: Voices of Economic Vulnerability in U.S. Jewish Communities focuses on the experiences of Jews facing financial hardship, explores ways that Jewish nonprofits and agencies have sought to help, and surfaces strategic opportunities for the philanthropic sector to help reduce poverty in the Jewish community.
In this Q&A, Jon Hornstein, who leads the Foundation’s grantmaking focused on the U.S. Jewish community, talks about the report and how it will inform Weinberg’s work to address Jewish poverty.
How did this study come about?
Since 2018, the Weinberg Foundation has been on a journey to learn more about Jewish poverty in the United States. Because there was very limited data available on this issue, we began collaborating with local Jewish federations on an initiative to standardize information about economic stability in Jewish community studies. However, we soon realized the stories of the people experiencing financial hardships were missing — and these stories are vital in completing the picture.
During the pandemic, I learned about the work of Ilana Horwitz, a professor of Jewish studies at Tulane University. She interviewed dozens of Jewish families in Philadelphia that were struggling financially and collectively shared their pandemic experiences. These stories jumped off the page, depicting what it was really like for those experiencing poverty in the Jewish community and uncovering key areas of need. One example: Nearly a quarter of the interviewees were women who either faced domestic abuse or were divorced with children and isolated from their communities with little financial literacy. I remember reading that study and wanting to partner with Ilana on a project — and, lo and behold, we did!
In On the Edge, Horwitz conducted the qualitative component, interviewing over 175 people nationwide, and Rosov Consulting, led by Senior Director Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz, oversaw a survey of 1,900 respondents. Kotler-Berkowitz previously led our initial community study initiative when he was at Jewish Federations of North America.
What does “economic vulnerability” mean?
The federal poverty line is a low bar for measuring financial stability. Many people who are earning significantly more than that line are still struggling, and this applies to the Jewish community as well. We therefore felt this required a change in language — from impoverished to economically vulnerable — to better convey the vastness of the issue, especially in the Jewish community. That is our attempt at painting a broader, more accurate picture of the people struggling financially.
This could include a person who is unable to afford rent, utility bills, or an unexpected medical bill. Or it might be a couple earning what looks like sufficient income but with lots of kids or high health care expenses and therefore struggling to make ends meet. It is anyone on the edge of financial instability.
What are some key findings of the study?
We learned that among our survey respondents, there is a prevalence of situational challenges — meaning some life event such as a job loss, health crisis, or family dissolution — that cause financial instability. In fact, this affected 61% of those surveyed who were currently or recently struggling, making it twice as common as financial adversity passed down from one generation to the next and about four times as common as downward mobility, or a gradual decline in stability over time.
In addition, we learned that nontraditional families are more likely to struggle with economic vulnerability. These financial constraints limit their ability to engage with the Jewish community and lead to social isolation. Because Jewish institutions tend to be centered around households with two married parents and their children, families that don’t fit that mold — for example, those with a single parent or LGBTQ+ families — often feel excluded.
How will these findings inform the Foundation’s work?
The Foundation is proud to support Together Ending Need (TEN) in building a community of funders focused on addressing economic hardship in the Jewish community and in helping Jewish institutions, such as federations or Hillels, think more about reaching people who encounter financial barriers to engaging in Jewish life. This research has helped solidify the focus of TEN, which has already hosted multiple programs to promote the report’s findings.
We also plan to look for models that address those key findings. In terms of situational vulnerability, we already support Imadi, a Baltimore nonprofit that helps struggling families with a child who has a complex health issue, such as cancer or a long-term disability. We seek to support other programs that recognize the wide range of health crises and other difficult situations that families experience.
Finally, we asked the study’s authors to present ideas aligned with their research to grantee Natan Fund. Natan runs giving circles, including a grant program aimed at addressing poverty. In its most recent grant round, Natan prioritized single-parent households and families with members who have serious health issues, based on report findings that these groups are more likely to struggle financially. We will continue looking for ways to sharpen other grantmaking areas.
What does the Foundation hope people will take away from this work?
Whether you’re focused on Jewish day schools or camp, Jewish college students, early childhood education, or whatever it is, we have work to do to shift programs and change the mindset so that we can all be as welcoming as possible for those who are economically vulnerable.
We hope organizations aim to understand more about the people and communities they are serving because there’s a high likelihood that some of them are struggling financially and require accommodations. To get more folks in the Jewish community to come to programs, all of us in the Jewish nonprofit sector need to figure out how to make things more accessible — perhaps, for example, by charging on a sliding scale or providing food at events.
Most critical, however, is realizing economic vulnerability can happen to any of us. A family member could die; someone could lose a job. No one is immune. We must stop looking at people who are struggling financially as if they are separate and distinct from us. We are all in the same community and must take collective responsibility to help people when they need support.
