Woodstock Institute research refutes the credit union movement’s claim that they have performed well under the mandate to meet the savings and credit needs of “persons of modest means.” Rhetoric and Reality: An Analysis of Mainstream Credit Unions’ Record of Serving Low-Income People also discusses why it is so important that credit unions fulfill this statutory responsibility and how they might do so more effectively in the future. The report analyzes data from surveys of roughly 3,000 respondents in the Chicago six-county metropolitan area. These data are the first-ever detailed and publicly available demographic data on credit union membership.