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Asset Building Books & Chapters Financial Inclusion

Asset Building and Low-Income Families

By CSD • July 1, 2008October 27, 2021

Low-income families have scant savings to cushion a job loss or illness, and can find economic mobility impossible without funds to invest in education, homes, or businesses. And though a lack of resources leaves such families vulnerable, income-support programs are often closed to those with a bit of savings or even a car. Considering welfare-to-work reforms, the increasingly advanced skill demands of the American workforce, and our stretched Social Security system, such an approach is inadequate to lift families out of poverty. Asset-based policies—allowing or even helping low-income families build wealth—are an increasingly popular strategy to facilitate financial stability.

Project: Poor Finances: Assets and Low-Income Households

Citation

McKernan, S.-M., & Sherraden, M. (Eds.). (2008). Asset building and low-income families. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

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2008Child Development Accounts (CDA)Individual Development Account (IDA)matched savingsMichael SherradenpolicyPoor Finances: Assets and Low-Income HouseholdsSigne-Mary McKernanstate policy

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