Subtitled “The movement to give every American a trust fund at birth,” the article summarizes the case for a universal children’s savings account. The idea that, as the article puts it, “every baby should be a trust fund baby,” was first articulated by CSD Director and Brown School Professor Michael Sherraden in his 1991 book, Assets and the Poor.
The article contains excerpts from a recent interview with Sherraden, and also highlights CSD’s SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) project. SEED OK is a rigorous experiment with treatment and control subjects intended to test the policy concept of giving every child a savings account at birth. Findings from SEED OK may inform a universal child savings policy at the federal level. Research on children’s savings in Uganda published by Fred Ssewamala, an alumnus of the Brown School and a Faculty Associate at CSD, is also featured.