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Asset Building Projects
The Downpayments on the American Dream Policy Demonstration (ADD) was the first large-scale demonstration of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), with approximately 2,400 accounts opened at 13 sites across the country. CSD led the research design and dissemination for this demonstration, designing a multi-pronged approach that included both quantitative and qualitative research methods. An experimental design was executed at the ADD site with the largest number of program participants. This research, which is ongoing, has yielded a considerable number of papers, reports, journal articles, and books, informing policymakers and others on topics related to creating effective opportunities for low- to moderate-income populations to save and invest in such assets as homes, businesses, higher education and retirement.
Funding provided by Ford Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Citigroup Foundation, F.B. Heron Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, Levi Strauss Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, the Moriah Fund, and the MetLife Foundation. CSD is a leader in research and theory on asset-building strategies for low-income individuals and families. This project examines the patterns and determinants of asset accumulation across the life course, merging 35 years of data (1968-2003) from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Life table analysis as well as multivariate modeling techniques are employed. Several key components of asset holding are examined, including homeownership, financial wealth and net worth, and asset poverty. This project provides the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) with assistance in designing the next evaluation of the Assets for Independence (AFI) program. Building on ACF’s recent evaluation of the AFI program and the state of the IDA field, CSD is reviewing research findings and data sources from IDA programs, and developing an evaluation plan which will outline evaluation options and their relative advantages.
Funding provided by Urban Institute, Administration for Children and Families, and US Department of Health & Human Services. AssetsAfrica is a pilot program that tests asset-building innovations for impoverished households and communities in Uganda. Participants purchased motorcycles, bicycles, goats, oxen, and land with the money they saved in their AssetsAfrica savings accounts. The longitudinal quasi-experiment research includes surveys, in-depth interviews, and savings account monitoring. CSD is collaborating with faculty and staff at the G. W. Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama to develop state and regional asset-building coalitions in the southern Black Belt region. Goals of the project are to build capacity for an inclusive statewide and regional asset-building coalition in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi using Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as partners. Central to the vision of the project is raising awareness that will strengthen asset-building strategies in the Black Belt region. The project disseminates information about asset-development initiatives such as financial literacy and education programs, access to banking, Individual Development Account programs, land loss and ownership, pre- and post-hurricane recovery strategies, new strategies to deliver asset-building programs, policy, and research initiatives, and new approaches to develop unique partnerships and collaborations.
View information on coalition development meetings. CSD assisted the Xin Jiang provincial government with policy design and research design of China's first asset-building program, implemented in 2005. CSD will conduct ongoing research on the program in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The Xin Jiang program may serve as a model for asset-building programs to be implemented in other parts of China. This study assesses African-American freshman and sophomore students’ decisions to remain in high school and their opinions regarding specific dropout prevention programs. Outcomes indicate that students believed that school completion would prepare them for the future, and were more likely to stay in school if family members supported that decision. Primary barriers to completing school relate to family issues, academic problems, and personal issues. Overall, students were most interested in intervention programs that focus on the future. Research indicates that many low-income families use tax refunds such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in ways that promote longer-term economic well-being. Community tax coalitions, which provide tax assistance and outreach to low-income individuals, are increasingly linking EITC refunds to asset-building accounts to encourage their clients to save. The goal of this project is to link community tax coalitions in at least two states to that state's 529 College Savings Plan, providing a means for low-income individuals to save their EITC refund for higher education expenses. This joint project of the Center for Social Development and the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies investigated the potential of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to serve as part of a poverty alleviation strategy in Indian Country. Researchers collected data from over 9,000 tax returns that were filed at 14 Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites serving Indian Country. The data was used to determine the number of Native community members who are eligible for EITC, the amount of money flowing to Native community members through EITC, potential uses of EITC income, and opportunities to build community infrastructure and programs that could help EITC and other tax dollars remain in Native communities and serve as leverage for further asset building.
Funding provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, First Nations Development Institute, and Native Financial Education Coalition. This joint project of the Center for Social Development and the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies sought to gain a better understanding of the definition and vision of asset building in Native communities, including a better understanding of the role financial assets play in community development. Specifically, the project investigated the current asset holdings of one Native community by allowing Native community members to define "assets" for themselves and for their community. Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is collaborating with CSD to expand the national methodology for basic income adequacy and economic security measure by including saving components. Essential for long-term economic security and household development. saving components include precautionary savings, skill development savings, and homeownership savings. This collaborative research project between CSD and the Seoul Welfare Foundation focuses on the Hope Plus Savings Account Program, a matched savings program that is modeled on Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in the United States. The impact study will explore the effects of Hope Plus on low-income households using longitudinal survey research and qualitative research with in-depth interviews. The Center for Social Development and the New America Foundation's Asset Building Program launched the Global Assets Project (GAP) in July 2006 to inform and promote development of asset-building policies and programs worldwide. This coordinated initiative seeks to build on successes of domestic asset-building programs to an international level by informing new policies, testing their effectiveness, creating networks of scholars and policy makers, building the global knowledge base, and promoting meetings and information sharing. See more information at the GAP website.
Funding provided by the Levi Strauss Foundation and Citigroup Foundation. CSD provided policy and research design support to the government of Hong Kong as it developed a proposal for a national Child Development Fund (CDF). Under this program, the government would establish child development accounts (CDAs) that low-income families could use to save money for their children's future and help their children escape an intergenerational cycle of poverty. 1
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