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Opportunity & Ownership: Poor Finance Series

Poor Finances is a series of reports on poverty, asset building, and social policy. The purpose of the series is to assess the state of knowledge and policy development and to synthesize recent progress in these areas. America has a longstanding history of promoting ownership, and new opportunities for people to save will likely increase the number of individuals and families able to build assets and improve the economic security of all Americans. Greater inclusivity and accessibility of traditional approaches to expanding ownership may make it easier for lower and middle income families to save. While the focus of this series of reports is on asset accumulation and asset-based policies for low-income individuals and families, the conceptual frameworks developed are not limited to low-income populations. This broad approach helps to identify the overall critical issues that relate to asset holding for all populations. Read more.

 

Series/Poor Finances: Assets and Low Income Households

 
Viewing 1-4 of 4. Most recent listed first.

Determinants of Asset Building (Series/Poor Finances: Assets and Low Income Households)
Sondra Beverly, Michael Sherraden, Min Zhan, Trina R. Williams-Shanks, Yunju Nam, Reid Cramer

This report provides a policy-oriented conceptual framework that has the potential to explain saving and asset accumulation across the entire population and to account for the low levels of saving and asset accumulation in the low-income population. The report also reviews empirical evidence that supports or challenges this framework.

Posted: April 15, 2008Availability: HTML | PDF

The Balance Sheets of Low-Income Households (Series/Poor Finances: Assets and Low Income Households)
Adam Carasso, Signe-Mary McKernan

This report synthesizes current research and other available information on the assets and liabilities of low-income households into a variety of portraits. These data allow practitioners and researchers to begin to form a comprehensive representation of the balance sheets of low-income households and sets the stage for future research and policy discussion around the finances of low-income households.

Posted: January 07, 2008Availability: HTML | PDF

The Effects of Welfare and IDA Program Rules on the Asset Holdings of Low-Income Families (Series/Poor Finances: Assets and Low Income Households)
Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, Yunju Nam

This report examines the effects of a comprehensive set of 13 welfare, Food Stamp, individual development account (IDA), earned income tax credit (EITC), and minimum wage program rules on the asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families. This report finds empirical evidence that more lenient asset limits in means-tested programs and more generous IDA program rules may have positive effects on asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families.

Posted: October 15, 2007Availability: HTML | PDF

Assessing Asset Data on Low-Income Households: (Series/Poor Finances: Assets and Low Income Households)
Caroline Ratcliffe, Henry Chen, Trina R. Williams-Shanks, Yunju Nam, Mark Schreiner, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden

This report identifies the most reliable and informative data sources for understanding low-income households’ assets and liabilities, details their limitations, and provides options for improving asset data sources and collection methods. The report evaluates 12 data sets and identifies three as having the greatest potential for future asset research—the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

Posted: October 15, 2007Availability: HTML | PDF

 
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