financial security. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches in addition to broad - based outreach, i would also like to emphasize the opportunity that financial education provides to advance our shared goal of financial inclusion. today, i will discuss three important aspects of the fed's inclusion efforts that helps to inform policies and practices designed to advance financial access and capability : access to a banking account ; the availability of responsible small - dollar lending products for short term financial needs ; and expanded reach of financial initiatives to indigenous and native communities to more effectively assist in providing access to the broader financial economy. we have made significant progress in providing greater access to bring the unbanked into the insured depository space. our research gives us insight into the success of recent efforts to expand access among unbanked populations. for example, the federal reserve's survey of household economics and decisionmaking ( shed ) showed in 2021 that 94 percent of adult survey respondents have a bank or credit union account, and the federal deposit insurance corporation's 2021 national survey of unbanked and underbanked households found that 95. 5 percent of all u. s. households were banked, which is the highest level since the survey began in 2009. 2 the fed's shed survey shows similar results. from 1989 to 2019, the percentage of u. s. adults with bank accounts rose from 85. 6 to 94. 5 percent. this is also true in the increased number of bank accounts owned by members of minority groups over the same time period, especially for black and hispanic consumers. black adults increased bank account ownership from 56. 7 to 86. 8 percent and hispanics increased from 63. 5 to 89. 5 percent. though these surveys show significant improvement over the past decades, there is still further progress to make. in fact, our shed survey data helps to identify characteristics of those who may choose not to use a deposit account or do not have access to one. the most recent survey results show that income and education may also play a factor - among the respondents, 24 percent of adults who have not earned a high school diploma and 17 percent of adults making less than $ 25, 000 a year did not own a deposit account. we also know that there are many factors that may lead consumers to choose not to engage in the banking system, whether from a distrust of the banking system or prior mishandling of a banking relationship being an impediment to account ownership. these broader gains in the number of consumers

populations. the community advisory council has benefited from having representation from the native american indian community serving on the council and updating the members on current challenges and opportunities facing these communities. in addition, in 2021, the federal reserve joined the central bank network for indigenous inclusion, which fosters ongoing dialogue and research to enhance the participation of indigenous populations in the economy. our efforts in this area emphasize the importance of education. in fact, the st. louis fed's native economic and financial education empowerment program has provided economic and personal finance education for native communities and organizations throughout the country since 2018. 3 recent research shows promising trends in access to bank accounts for native american alaskan and indian communities, with over 93 percent of these households now holding a bank account, which is nearly a 10 - percentage point increase from 2019. i am very pleased to see that these efforts and our commitment to bringing access to financial services to indigenous communities have been beneficial. thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. i appreciate the opportunity to highlight the federal reserve's contributions to flec's mission of financial empowerment and i look forward to the insights from today's meeting. 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches 1 see " keys to financial success - lessons and curricula, " federal reserve bank of philadelphia and " resources for teachers and students in economics and personal finance, " federal reserve bank of st. louis. 2 see board of governors of the federal reserve system, " economic well - being of u. s. households in 2021 ( pdf ) " and federal deposit insurance corporation, " 2021 fdic national survey of unbanked and underbanked households ( pdf ) ". 3 see " native economic and financial education empowerment ( nefee ), " federal reserve bank of st. louis. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches