Michal Grinstein-Weiss, associate director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), spent part of December with Israel’s leading media providing insight on the country’s new law creating Child Development Accounts (CDAs), the Savings for Every Child law.
Starting in January 2017, the law will provide seeded savings accounts with monthly deposits for all children born in Israel and currently under age 18. With the goal of providing a better economic start for the nation’s children, Israel’s parliament passed the law in November 2015 based on a 2010 proposal by Grinstein-Weiss and rooted in years of research by CSD Director Michael Sherraden and CSD Policy Director Margaret Clancy.
Grisntein-Weiss, a native of Israel, gave several interviews in early December, including a live Q&A session hosted by TheMarkerTV. She answered questions about features of the CDA program, including withdrawal age, investment options, and taxes and capital gains. The interview was also streamed on Facebook Live, with additional materials compiled in a guide published by TheMarker and further interviews with Grinstein-Weiss.
Grinstein-Weiss was in Israel to meet with top stakeholders including the National Insurance Institute, the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance around design and evaluation of the law. She also joined Sherraden and CSD International Director Li Zou to speak on global CDA examples and evidence at the December 1 Innovations in Poverty Policy conference hosted by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.
CSD leaders have played a key role in development of the Savings for Every Child law, including writing the original proposal, solidifying the evidence supporting CDAs over several decades, providing strategies for implementation of the law, hosting seminars and delegations around the law, and working directly with government officials and other stakeholders.