Low-wage jobs can be unstable, leaving families struggling to cope with employment gaps and financial emergencies that can strike without warning. About four in five low-income families are "asset poor," lacking enough liquid savings to live for three months at the federal poverty level without earnings. In this essay, McKernan and Ratcliffe suggest a cluster of policies that would improve financial markets and savings opportunities for low-income families across the life cycle.

Edward Gramlich, the Richard B. Fisher Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1997 to 2005, died September 5. In his last paper, delivered at a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City symposium shortly before his death, he called for swift action to fix the problems in the subprime mortgage market. The paper was presented by former Federal Reserve colleague David Wilcox, who offered "Four Images of Ned Gramlich" before reading Gramlich's "Booms and Busts: The Case of Subprime Mortgages."

A new Urban Institute Press book offers a slate of reform opportunities for the ailing subprime mortgage market and provides one of the first comprehensive analyses of this still-evolving segment of the mortgage industry.

In this Washington Examiner commentary, senior fellow Edward Gramlich argues that, despite foreclosures, three-quarters of new homeowners with subprime mortgages are making their payments. However, policymakers should consider increasing protections and safeguards for them.

As is true nationally, many home buyers in the District of Columbia have made use of subprime loans to purchase a home. Data indicate that use of subprime loans is highest in Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8, and among African-American and Latino borrowers. High use of subprime loans by these groups point to areas where predatory or illegal practices might be occurring. The D.C. Council can consider several measures to address these concerns, including providing better education and credit counseling for homebuyers, requiring more reporting by mortgage lenders, and testing mortgage lenders for fair housing practices.