by Terri Friedline, PhD, LCSW
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has exposed the severe faults in the illusory booming economy. Even before the global pandemic, wages were stagnant, unemployment rates among marginalized workers were disproportionately high, inequality was widening, and the safety net was practically nonexistent. Until now, there was dissonance between favorable economic reports and individuals’ lived experiences that was partly due to the growing role of finance in the economy. Thanks to the expansion of finance, more income is derived from capital than from labor, and profits are concentrated into the hands of corporations and wealthy elites. As this current public health crisis precipitates an economic crisis, it is increasingly clear that favorable reports that advertised a booming economy were just illusions.
I work in an important area of social work: finance. At first, this may not appear to be a natural fit with the profession. My colleagues in this area—primarily from business and economics—approach questions about household finance very differently, and their analyses rarely center on racial and economic justice. However, at some level, every social worker cares about the economics of their clients’ households and values racial and economic justice. Social workers have a unique capacity to understand how people are influenced by systems. As first responders, social workers are keenly aware of the difficult conditions under which individuals, families, and communities survive and thrive. Therefore, social workers are not fooled by optimistic economic reports, because they sit with their clients’ everyday realities. And given the profession’s comparatively low pay, social workers often experience these realities themselves. For these reasons, it is critical that social workers view finance as an important area of macro practice where their insights and expertise are needed.
My path to macro practice began when I was a clinical social worker in the juvenile justice system, where a disproportionate share of young people are Black and Brown given the over surveillance and policing of Black and Brown communities. I supported young people during their transition to independence by helping them to secure identification like driver’s licenses, complete employment applications, open bank accounts, and establish credit. I quickly realized that the financial system was not designed for their success. The mostly White environments of bank branches were unwelcoming to the Black and Brown teenagers with whom I worked, where employees’ casual racism denied their applications to open accounts, despite meeting the requirements. Costly maintenance and overdraft fees drained the money from their accounts. I knew that, at the macro level, the financial system was designed to make money off of their circumstances instead of helping them gain the foothold in the economy that they needed.
Now, I am making change at the macro level. My professional goals—which align with community organizers’ advocacy for fair lending, affordable housing, and public banking—include democratizing the financial system and ensuring equal access. I recently began a two-year appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Academic Research Council, which is a board that advises the agency on issues of household finance. In this capacity, I will influence research and policy priorities related to credit, lending, banking, and technology—including the financial system’s responses to COVID-19. Given what’s at stake, our profession needs to engage in issues of finance and the macro economy. I implore you to join me in this work.
Terri Friedline, PhD, LCSW, is Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, Research Fellow at New America in Washington, DC, and member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Academic Research Council. She holds an MSW and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work.