CSD News

As the 2014 tax season opens, the Refund to Savings initiative continues with adjustments designed to better understand consumer savings behavior and help more Americans build savings.

​A college savings account in a child’s name not only gives parents hope for the future, it also results in improved social-emotional health for their children.

More than 160 people attended “Generation Debt: the Promise, Perils and Future of Student Loans” at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Monday, Nov. 18. The conference was co-sponsored by the St. Louis Fed and the Center for Social Development in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

As the financial roller coaster continues, those working to close the wealth gap and achieve economic security in the South are working more vigorously than ever.

A new academic survey conducted by The Center for Social Development and national veterans nonprofit The Mission Continues points to community volunteerism as an effective tool for addressing veterans’ reintegration challenges.

In a special double edition of Ageing International published this year, CSD’s Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, and Ada C. Mui, PhD, of the Columbia University School of Social Work discuss the productive engagement of older adults.

​Low-income youth in developing countries will save their money in a formal account when given the right opportunity.

The Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis and long-time partner Peking University in Beijing have begun collaborating on a new endeavor: Savings accounts for children with disabilities in China.

A special issue of the “Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement” features a collection of studies breaking new ground in international service.

Brown School alumna Molly Wimonmat Srichamroen has created a first-of-its-kind children’s savings program in her native Thailand, using knowledge she gained at the Center for Social Development. Srichamroen was also a scholar in Washington University’s McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

A special issue of “Economics of Education Review” marks the first comprehensive set of studies that link assets and educational attainment. Research provides evidence that college savings should be included in policies for educational financing.

​Financial capability is central to the success of individuals, families and communities, yet social workers and other human service professionals are often ill-equipped when addressing such issues with financially vulnerable clients.

The Great Recession, characterized by devastating mortgage defaults, has challenged the traditional belief that homeownership is a good investment. This is particularly true for those with low and moderate incomes.

Financial issues impacting families are receiving renewed attention and interest by scholars, practitioners and students. Unfortunately, social workers and other human service workers often lack preparation, knowledge and skills to tackle increasingly complex financial problems facing their clients.

​As taxpayers make the final push to file before the April 15 deadline, they often have visions of refund checks and plans to spend their windfall. But the question that more and more people are asking is, “How can I make the most of my refund?”

In the decades ahead, China will have a very large older population, with many older adults who are relatively healthy and interested in being actively engaged in their communities. Contributions of older adults will be necessary for social and economic development of families, communities and society.

Researchers and practitioners from around the globe met at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis this week to make strides toward increased financial awareness of children and youth.

The 2013 tax season has officially launched, and there is a 75-percent chance taxpayers will be eligible for a refund. What would it take to get them to save most, or all, of that money?

When every dollar is spent on necessities like diapers, gasoline and utilities, saving for college may be the furthest thing from a new parent’s mind. Mothers participating in a research study, however, suggest that a college savings account with $1,000 makes them feel optimistic about their children’s postsecondary education.

The Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis partnered with Peking University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to host a conference on strategies and innovations for asset building. This conference, held at Peking University in mid-November, reviewed research on asset building initiatives, a growing interest throughout Asia.

Grinstein-Weiss is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the field of asset building whose research focuses on developing programs and policies to promote economic and social development of vulnerable groups.

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently launched the first large-scale test of college savings accounts when it incorporated a college savings and financial counseling component into GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness for Undergraduate Programs), its initiative to prepare youth for college.

The Conference on Lifelong Asset Building: Strategies and Innovations in Asia, taking place this weekend in Beijing, will harness the experiences and brainpower of leading scholars, policy makers, practitioners, corporate leaders and funders from around the world.

Gail Hillebrand of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will visit the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 25, as part of the Center for Social Development’s Financial Capability Lecture Series.

Representatives from the Center for Social Development at Washington University recently traveled halfway around the world to meet with colleagues from the YouthSave Consortium, and had the unique opportunity to talk with Nepalese youth and learn more about their savings experience.

Do Ghanaian youth have money? How do they get it? What do they do with it? These are questions we are beginning to answer in YouthSave using data from a baseline survey of over 6,000 in-school youth.

The Center for Social Development was a key sponsor of the Africa Conference on Volunteer Action for Peace and Development that was hosted at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, Kenya on July 2-4, 2012.

Asset-building scholars, policymakers, and foundations gathered earlier this month in Washington, DC to celebrate the 21st anniversary of “Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy.”

The Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School will host a Symposium on International Research and Innovation on April 17, 2012, to examine the process and experiences of building international research partnerships and highlight innovations in economic empowerment and financial inclusion in international settings.

Prior research would suggest that parks are an important element of a livable life. Evidence has connected physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. This research, however, is primarily based on samples of university students and western European populations who are financially comfortable.

Washington University in St. Louis will host the “Work & Livable Lives Conference” from Feb. 27-28 to address current employment-related challenges and how they limit the ability of U.S. households to lead secure and stable lives, raise children successfully, and contribute to the community.

Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, will deliver a lecture, “Developing Financial Capability in New York City,” on February 22 at the Brown School.

Today, the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis (CSD) and the New America Foundation released the first report of four in the series “Creating a Financial Stake in College.”

In Assets and the Poor, Michael Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, writes that asset accumulation is structured and subsidized for many non-poor households, primarily via retirement accounts and home ownership.

Population aging is a major concern across the globe, and nowhere is the challenge more daunting than in China. Whereas the United States currently has an estimated 36 million seniors age 65 and older, China already has 208 million seniors (defined in that country as age 60 or older).

Today marks the ten year anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer and the release of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program’s very first State of the World’s Volunteerism Report.

State-sponsored college savings plans, often called 529 plans, offer tax incentives to facilitate saving for postsecondary education. Low- and moderate-income families are less likely to have college savings than higher-income families.

Post-9/11 disabled veterans furthered their education, improved employment prospects and continued to serve their community through participating in The Mission Continues’ Fellowship Program, finds a new study by the Center for Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

As the global population ages, the concept of “productive aging” offers a new perspective on meeting the challenges of an aging society. In contrast to conventional views of aging, “productive aging” views older adults as participants in and contributors to social development, rather than passive recipients of services.

In August, over 300 gerontology scholars from mainland China, the US, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore as well as governments officials and practitioners from the China National Committee on Aging and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will come together at Peking University to discuss strategies to address population aging.

International service in higher education takes many different forms, from internships and alternative spring breaks to study-abroad programs and credit-bearing international service-learning programs.

William Elliott, III, Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh and a Faculty Associate at the Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School, will present his research on children’s savings and educational outcomes at 1:00 pm, April 8, 2011, in Brown Lounge.