Jonathan Walker in the media
Representing a brand in the media requires poise, preparation, and an interesting hook.
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AFCPE podcast, Episode 80: Understanding Human Behavior with Jonathan Walker, or on YouTube
Participated in the podcast “On the Circuit” (find the episode here or on Spotify or Apple)
“Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, told USA Today: “This holiday, people are hoping for coal in their stockings because utility bills will go way up and pressure their finances, and the last thing they can tolerate is white snow.”” (The U.S. Sun)
"This holiday, people are hoping for coal in their stockings because utility bills will go way up and pressure their finances, and the last thing they can tolerate is white snow," said Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, which researches behaviors and needs of financially strained Americans. (USA Today)
“Marketing Briefing: Understanding the Gen Z consumer” - TearSheet
“Among non-prime consumers with student debt, Walker says, 44% did not earn a degree, and among prime consumers, the figure is 25%. “One of the challenges is that people are trying out college, it’s not working out, they’re taking on debt, and seeing none of the benefits from an improved income that comes with a degree.” (Fast Company)
“There are an enormous number of costs that are significantly higher today than they were a generation ago. Even if you have a comparable income to your parents, the fragility of your household finances is much more brittle,” Walker said by video conference call. “Fifty percent say they’re one unexpected expense away from being broke. These are people who are doing okay, but are still living on the edge.” (Retail Dive)
"The low unemployment rate doesn't mean there's high job security," said Walker. "Sure, you can go out and find another job, but if you don't have savings, the gap period becomes catastrophic." (AZ Central)
“That 40 points is really important because if you can move your credit score 40 points, you immediately move into a better credit bracket,” Walker said. (D Magazine)
"Elevate.com combines insights that are grounded in data to create a cutting-edge user experience that can address the complex needs of the non-prime population—more than 170 million Americans," said Jonathan Walker, Executive Director of the Center for the New Middle Class, Elevate’s internal thinktank that conducts research, surveys and focus groups on the non-prime demographic. "Using longitudinal data and statistical analysis, our team designed a destination for anyone seeking flexible credit options and actionable guidance on the path to financial resilience." (Yahoo! Finance)
"We’ve known for years that the cost of healthcare squeezes American households, but non-prime Americans in particular are increasingly strained by healthcare costs as overall inflation takes its toll,” said Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class and the report’s author. “The increase in the number of households that are feeling the pinch is concerning.” (Forbes)
"A large portion of the people I talk to in a given year find that their financial troubles come in steps that cause significant hardship: medical debt, a job loss, a major car repair, a family emergency," said Jonathan Walker, executive director of the debt-focused Elevate Center for the New Middle Class in Fort Worth, Texas. (USA Today)
Walker described a man whose wife had breast cancer. She recovered but their finances took a hit. They had $1,000 in savings, but needed $5,000 to pay their share of her medical bills. Their financial woes “started to snowball,” Walker said. (Forbes)
“By the time they get to be our customers, they may have hit that speed bump at least once; often they will have run into medical bills or a job loss, which knocks out their ability to get other forms of credit,” said Jonathan Walker, who heads Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, a research and data gathering unit that analyzes the borrowing habits of the more than 150 million Americans without prime credit scores. (LA Times)
"The new middle-class divider is access to credit," Jonathan Walker, the executive director of Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class, a research and advocacy group, recently told USA Today.
"When unexpected expenses pop up, they can become a crisis if you don't have access to credit." (Fox Business)
A lot of factors can get people into trouble, but two factors stand out. One is a reduction of work hours, which was cited by 55% of nonprime respondents in a May survey conducted by Walker's group. Another 24% cited medical bills as the primary cause. (USA Today)
In fact, a report from the Center for the New Middle Class shows only 32 percent of Latinos with prime credit could cover a $1,200 expense with their savings. That number drops to an abysmal 21 percent for those who have non-prime credit. The report also shows that Latinos, regardless of where they sit on the credit spectrum, are more likely to experience changes in their employment situation when compared to the general population, with 56 percent of non-prime Latinos experiencing a job change within the last 12 months. (Sacramento Bee)
Credit Scores Sink and Stink in Wake of Unfortunate Unforeseen Events (Card Track)
According to a study from Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, more than half (55%) of the respondents said their credit scores dropped below 700 after a job loss or reduction in work hours. Medical bills were also cited as a source of struggle, said LowCards.com in its analysis. (CU Today)
Job loss and medical expenses are the leading factors causing Americans’ credit scores to drop, according to new research by Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class (CNMC). (Coin Times)
“We know that finances play a key but complicated role in relationships, and sought to understand better how finance and credit influence decisions early on in the pursuit for a romantic partner,” said CNMC Executive Director Jonathan Walker in a statement. (WTSP)
If you’re just scraping by financially, it doesn’t take a lot for a money crisis to go down. According to research by Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, among non-prime Americans (aka those who have below a 700 credit score and little or no savings), a whopping 69 percent couldn’t cover an urgent $500 emergency. What’s also scary is that the non-prime set can only survive for four months in the case they experience a job loss, long-term illness, or during an economic downturn. (Mint Life)
“Non-prime consumers are actually incredible budgeters,” said Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class. People with worse credit are significantly more likely to budget than people with higher credit scores. Better still, people with bad credit who budgeted were more likely to say they saw an improvement in their finances after the holidays. (CNBC)
“When you’re prepared to spend and you feel like you’re getting a good deal on something you probably have the feeling that you can spend a little more,” said Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class. “People tend to think they’re doing a good job because they’re hitting the sales and coupons but they’re not paying attention to the top line.” (NBC News)
Part of the problem may be that people forget the myriad of extraordinary costs that crop up during the season, from travel to additional charitable gifts, Walker said. This may be why the survey found that people who made gifts by hand and budgeted for each gift purchase weren't effective in stopping overspending. He suspects they forgot that only about 60 percent of holiday costs are for gifts. Decorations, travel and parties need to be accounted for, too. (CBS News)
While ongoing research shows women are often the financial stewards in their families, the survey found that only 39% of non-prime women believe they have the skills to manage their finances. Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class shares four tips on what financially fragile women can do to boost their financial confidence. (Fox Business)
“While [it is] disheartening that so many credit-constrained Americans are unable to enjoy summer vacations away from home, it is reassuring to see responsible spending habits in place,” said Jonathan Walker, the executive director of Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, in a statement. (MarketWatch)
“Credit constrained Americans are so often impacted by income volatility and a lack of savings. While prime Americans often have the luxury of saving for a summer vacation, this is often much harder for the non-prime. On the bright side, this study indicated the non-prime group is looking ahead and setting parameters for what they can and cannot afford,” said Walker. (Payment Week)
Women with low credit scores tend to work long hours at low pay, care for parents as well as children, and have trouble making ends meet. Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class, and Mark Schwanhausser, director of digital banking at Javelin Strategy & Research, kick around ideas for how banks and fintechs could help women who are caught in a subprime trap. (American Banker)
“We found that couples who argue about money argue about other things as well. And couples who don’t argue about other things don’t argue about money either,” Walker says. (CNBC)
A survey by Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class (CNMC) says almost a quarter of married couples exhibit behaviors of an unhealthy financial partnership, such as failing to reach financial compromises and not being comfortable talking about money. Jonathan Walker, Executive Director at Elevate’s CNMC attributes the breakdown in relationships to one thing. “Financial strain is the spark, but it’s not the gas leak, the lack of trust is,” says Walker. (Fox Business)
A study released Wednesday by the Center for the New Middle Class, which researches consumer behavior and the causes behind financial struggles of under-served Americans, found even African-Americans with prime credit scores (700 or above) face similar problems to those with low credit scores. (Market Watch)
Despite how universal these problems are, people still have a hard time talking about finances with their partners, particularly if they are young. In fact, millennial couples seem to fight about money more than previous generations, according to a recent report from consumer research firm the Center for the New Middle Class. About 1 in 5 millennial couples with a prime credit rating said they argue about money very or fairly often, the report found, versus only 7% of Generation X couples and 3% of baby boomers. (MIC)
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, there’s been a study released by Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class about love and money. (Maggie Germano)
The study showed that Millennials, regardless of credit status, behaved like non-prime borrowers in using credit cards to cover expenses month to month, to be shaken by an unexpected drop in income or sudden expense and to argue over finances with their partner. "It was surprising that the Millennial group exhibits this fragility," said Jonathan Walker, executive director of the Center for the New Middle Class. "These Millennials ... are on the knife's edge -- they are in a position that is more fragile than they may be aware of." (CNN Money)
The poll found that customers who hunted for sales to control holiday spending were 45 percent more likely to report that they overspent their budget during the holidays compared those who said they didn’t focus on sales. "We want to raise awareness of the nonprime customer and their challenge," said Jonathan Walker, the Center's executive director. (Tear Sheet)
A wide gulf is opening up in America, and a huge swath of Baby Boomers are at risk (Business Insider)
America’s middle class has money problems — but we can solve them (The Hill)
"We get reams of data to understand the best way to underwrite a customer but what we needed to do is humanize the data," said the Center's executive director, Jonathan Walker. "We needed to find a way to understand the stories behind the data to help better identify the products and services that are necessary." (Tear Sheet)
These types of borrowers are often middle-income earners who need an additional reserve of money to cover the “speed bumps,” said Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate’s in-house think tank, the Center for the New Middle Class. (Digiday)
Valentine’s Day Has Come and Gone. Check Your Bank Account (Bloomberg)
"It’s hard for many to believe that unexpected car repairs can cause a major upset in a household’s finances," Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class, said. "Unfortunately, it happens all too often, simply because nonprime Americans don’t have the available resources to help absorb some of these financial shocks. This can cause a downward spiral on their daily finances as well as their credit history.” (Business Insider)
