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Having a robust emergency savings fund could help people weather financial shocks, such as job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Ultimately, this study emphasizes the importance of emergency savings in helping workers stay financially resilient during crises," Zheng said. "Building and maintaining a sufficient emergency savings can help people protect their long-term financial security by reducing the need for premature withdrawals from retirement accounts during periods of unexpected income loss."

Researchers, including Stephen Roll, an assistant professor at the Brown School, surveyed 2,923 respondents; 60% of the baseline data were collected in April 2020, during which the unemployment rate peaked at 14.4%.

Twenty percent of those in the sample experienced a job loss, and 10% were forced to withdraw money from their retirement savings.

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