Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/ElizabethBell

Kids' Share 2008, a second annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. This appendix details our data sources, the programs we include, and the methodology used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children.

"Kids' Share 2007: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget" tracks trends in federal spending on children from 1960 to 2017 by analyzing over 100 programs through which the federal government spends on children. This appendix lists our data sources, describes each program, and explains the methodology used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children.

Report No. 1 of the Opportunity and Ownership Project. Financial services have become more free and accessible, but also increasingly complex. For new financial options to help most people, they must understand their options. Unfortunately, Americans have a weak grasp of basic finance. This paper emphasizes the importance of financial literacy and examines current financial education strategies. We explore two methods of financial education—broad financial curriculums and "teachable moments." After examining each, we suggest that a combination of the two perspectives, with the topics and strategies varying by target audience. We conclude by calling for a more rigorous evaluation of the effects of existing programs.

Under current law, there are three major tax credits that affect families with children: the earned income tax credit, the child and dependent care tax credit, and the child tax credit.

Individual giving to public charities-most of which comes in the form of charitable deductions from tax filers who itemize on their returns-actually comprises only a small part of charities’ gross receipts each year: between 8 and 12 percent of gross receipts over the 1996-2003 period.

On November 2nd, 2005, The Urban Institute and Health Affairs convened a roundtable of experts to discuss health care economizing and financing. The discussion centered on four topics: (1) consumers; (2) the role of state and federal government; (3) providers and other intermediaries; and (4) other efficiency efforts. This document provides a brief summary of the participants' comments in each of these four areas.

Widening access to retirement savings vehicles and increasing the accumulations within these vehicles could help secure the future for many lower-income families. Currently, the role played by private pensions in asset building is small to nonexistent for most poor and lower-middle class workers. Instead, these persons rely primarily on Social Security and the savings in their home equity, if any, to sustain them in retirement. This brief, based on feedback from a roundtable of experts convened at the Urban Institute, provides background data on the assets of US households and discusses options for increasing levels of saving and retirement security for low- and moderate-income families.

Even when incentives to save and invest are strong, many low- and moderate-income families lack the basic knowledge to manage their income wisely, build wealth, and avoid excessive debt. This brief examines financial literacy research and programs to improve financial knowledge and decision-making. While research suggests that existing programs do make a difference in financial behavior, data collection and policy concerns make financial literacy a fertile ground for further development as part of an asset-building agenda.

The way federal housing benefits are doled out suggests a U-shaped curve; subsidies are heaped on most households at higher incomes and some at very low incomes. Those in between get little. This brief describes revenue-neutral reforms that would level out the U-shaped curve and deliver ownership subsidies more equitably and efficiently to lower-to-middle-income households. Converting home-related tax deductions into refundable, capped credits introduces greater progressivity into the tax system, encourages homeownership among those at lower incomes, and curtails government subsidies for ever greater amounts of home borrowing.

No asset is more important in expanding opportunity and hedging against economic uncertainty than owning a home. While homeownership may not be for everyone, strong disincentives are created by federal policies that subsidize poor families to rent but cut off these subsidies should they choose to buy. Meanwhile, federal tax incentives for homeownership only go to those households owing tax--and typically the higher their income and the more expensive their homes, the larger the tax subsidy. Ownership incentives need to change to correct this inequity and better promote homeownership among the poor.

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