This fact sheet highlights the findings of a report that examines employment data and estimated retirement plan sponsorship rates in Illinois and identifies the number of Illinois employees who likely do not have access to employment-based retirement savings plans. It also describes the basic principles that are essential to expanding access to employment-based retirement savings plans.

This fact sheet highlights findings and recommendations from "Struggling to Stay Afloat: Negative Equity in Communities of Color in the Chicago Six County Region."  It finds that negative equity is disproportionately concentrated in the Chicago region’s African American, Latino, and majority minority neighborhoods, and that borrowers in communities of color have much lower equity than do borrowers in predominantly white communities.

A summary of the provisions in the Cook County Vacant Buildings Ordinance and 2011 changes to the City of Chicago's Vacant Buildings Ordinance.

This fact sheet outlines Woodstock Institute's concerns with Capital One's proposed acquisition of ING Direct. These concerns include the institutions' unsatisfactory records of meeting community needs and potential for systemic risk.

This policy brief summarizes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authorities in the absence of a confirmed director.

In response to dramatic proposals to change the housing finance system in Washington, Woodstock Institute convened a panel discussion on May 12, 2011 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago with top housing decision-makers to explore the current challenges to mortgage finance and potential impacts on low-wealth communities and communities of color. This document summarizes critiques and proposals that arose from the discussion.

This fact sheet highlights findings and recommendations from "Bridging the Gap II: Examining Trends and Patterns of Personal Bankruptcy in Cook County’s Communities of Color." The report found that women make up a larger share of individual bankruptcy filers in all communities, and a dramatically larger share in African American communities, than men do. Additionally, bankruptcy filers in African-American communities are more than twice as likely as filers in predominantly white communities to choose Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Findings and recommendations from a February 2011 briefing at which Woodstock Institute convened a group of key stakeholders at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to discuss solutions that would keep properties occupied, hold mortgage loan servicers accountable for their disposition of properties in the foreclosure process, and return vacant properties back to productive use.

This policy brief summarizes the findings of "Left Behind: Troubled Foreclosed Properties and Servicer Accountability in Chicago." It describes troubled foreclosed properties, highlights key findings, and summarizes the policy recommendations in the report.

This fact sheet examines patterns in credit scores in New York City in 2007. The fact sheet explains how credit scores are used and describes sharp disparities in credit characteristics between communities of color and white communities in New York City in 2007. This is an addendum to a previously released fact sheet on credit scores in New York City.