Special issue focuses on financial capability, asset building

“Financial capability and asset building” is the theme of the 60th anniversary issue of Social Work. Articles by several researchers at the Center for Social Development were published in the October 2016 issue of the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers.

CSD receives College Kids Ambassador Award

On August 18, the Center for Social Development received the College Kids Ambassador Award from the St. Louis Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment.

New book offers hope for ailing American family finances

“What It’s Worth: Strengthening the Financial Future of Families, Communities and the Nation” includes 40 essays by the nation’s leading experts on economics, financial services, public policy and philanthropy from across a broad range of sectors.

​Treasury launches national myRA retirement plan

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced the national launch of the myRA program, a government-backed retirement plan for people who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work or who haven’t found an easy enough way to save.

New report explores global lessons from youth savings

In 2010, researchers in the vast YouthSave Initiative started investigating whether low-income youth can build savings in the developing countries of Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal. Now their findings are summarized in a newly released report.

‘Taking the bank to the youth’ proves fruitful, researchers find

YouthSave researchers gathered recently in Washington, D.C., to discuss what they learned over five years about how to provide scalable saving mechanisms to low-income youth—and what their findings could mean for youth development and financial inclusion.

FCAB speaker: Understand poor families, then create financial innovations

​People in the field of social work are crucial to broadening how to think about the poor and their financial decision making, Camille Busette, PhD, said in the keynote speech at the 2015 Convening on Financial Capability & Asset Building: Advancing Education, Research, and Practice in Social Work.

Journal: Start children early for financial success

The Great Recession exposed the financial fragility of millions of American families. Now researchers and policymakers are striving to improve the next generation’s grasp of personal finance and its access to safe financial products.

Homeowners fared better than renters in Great Recession

While many Americans took a big financial hit during the Great Recession, homeowners were less likely than renters to lose very large proportions of their wealth, finds a new study from the Center for Social Development in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Rhode Island newborns get college savings

Rhode Island’s treasurer and governor-elect, Gina M. Raimondo, on Dec. 10 announced a policy change to make college savings more accessible for newborn children in that state. In January, it will be as simple as checking a box.

New book explores asset building in Asia

Asian scholars, practitioners and policymakers share lessons about asset-building policies in Asia and chart the future in the new book “Asset-Building Policies and Innovations in Asia.”

Chicago event focuses on creating savings opportunities

The 80 experts attending the event were brought together by a common interest in creating strategies for using the “golden moment” of tax time to help Americans build savings by changing the way consumers make economic decisions.

CDA program urged for Israel

​Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Ph.D., the associate director of the Center for Social Development and associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University, presented to a visiting delegation of Israeli government officials in New York City.

FCAB course comes to Brown School

“Financial Capability Practice” — a course based on the Center for Social Development’s new Financial Capability & Asset Building curriculum — begins in January at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Treasury awards $1 million for CSD retirement savings research

The U.S. Treasury Department has awarded a $1.08 million research contract to the Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School. One of 11 contracts awarded nationally under the Financial Empowerment Innovation Fund, this award will fund research on myRA accounts (“My Retirement Accounts”).

New book provides in-depth look at asset building in Asia, conversations continue

The Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis recognizes that asset-building policies in Asia offer important lessons in lifelong wealth and retirement security. International interest in these policies, particularly regarding aging populations, has prompted a book published in Chinese and one forthcoming in English.

New book explores the rise of asset building

More than two decades after Michael Sherraden, PhD, wrote Assets and the Poor – introducing asset building as a new social policy framework – that idea has taken off in numerous directions.

Maine becomes first state to provide college savings for all newborns

This week, the state of Maine became the first in the United States to make college savings for newborns universal and automatic, putting into practice research pioneered by Michael Sherraden and the Brown School’s Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.

As student loan debt passes $1 trillion, seeing decline in return on investment

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.

CSD initiative aims to fill gap in financial capability training

​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.

New book addresses gap in financial capability

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.

Savings experiment helps taxpayers make the most of their refunds

​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?”

Child finance meeting brings voices from around the world

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.

Interviews with mothers of young children shed light on college savings

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.

CSD represented in Nepal at YouthSave event

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.

A glimpse into the lives of Ghanaian youth

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.

Symposium on international research and innovation

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.