The Urban Institute's Opportunity and Ownership project conducts policy research on assets, ownership, and opportunity for low- and middle-income families.
Our research is grounded in the premise that low-income families can acquire assets and become more financially secure if given the opportunity. Savings, homeownership, pensions, and microenterprise form a family's safety net should they get hit with a job loss or financial emergency. Assets can sustain seniors in retirement and give low-income Americans a foothold in the middle class.
Our work looks beyond traditional anti-poverty programs to explore ways to encourage self-sufficiency. Most federal spending to promote saving funds tax breaks that often miss low-income families. And asset tests for federal assistance programs can discourage poor families from saving.
Our team consists of Urban Institute experts in asset building, housing, taxes and budget, retirement, and supports for low-income families. We give decisionmakers expert analysis on asset and debt issues at every stage of Americans'
lives and offer innovative ways to encourage saving and help families build wealth.
Featured Book from the Opportunity and Ownership Project
Edited by Signe-Mary McKernan and Michael Sherraden
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Key Findings
Asset Building and Low-Income Families—Signe-Mary McKernan and Michael Sherraden, editors
The first comprehensive book to assemble and evaluate what is known about asset building for the poor. The authors also chart directions for future research and set the stage for new asset policies that may include low-income households.
Enabling Families to Weather Emergencies and Develop: The Role of Assets—Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe
Assets can help low-income families weather a job loss or financial emergency. The authors recommend better regulation of small loans, subsidized savings accounts, automatic individual retirement accounts, and programs to support home and car ownership. In mid-2008, this essay caught the attention of Senate staff interested in how to make federal asset subsidies, such as the mortgage interest deduction, more equitable.
Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom and Bust—Edward M. Gramlich
This timely primer examines the origin and consequences of the subprime mortgage market. The Los Angeles Times dubbed this bestseller the "bible for reporters and policymakers trying to figure out what had gone wrong." Several of Gramlich's recommendations for tightening mortgage-lending standards were adopted by the Federal Reserve Board.
Children's Savings Accounts: Why Design Matters—Barbara Butrica, Adam Carasso, C. Eugene Steuerle, Desmond Toohey
One path to an ownership society is to endow all children with savings accounts at birth, starting kids off on the right foot and teaching the value of saving. This report shows how specific features of a children's savings account program will affect the distribution of wealth. The paper refocused conceron on whether tax benefits granted under such asset development proposals deserve more attention.
Why Not a "Super Simple" Saving Plan for the United States?—Pamela Perun, C. Eugene Steuerle
Despite decades of significant tax subsidies for pensions and retirement accounts, most Americans retire with little or no savings. The "Super Simple" saving plan laid out here—a basic, low-cost, easily administrable plan—could significantly increase retirement assets for moderate- and middle-income adults. The plan features simpler rules, automatic contribution for employees who don’t opt out, and a significant government match.
Events
Building Wealth over a Lifetime, Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), November 2009
Opportunity & Ownership researchers helped create and organize a special track on asset-building for APPAM’s annual research conference. This series of six panels will highlight new asset-based research on children’s savings accounts and educational outcomes, evaluations of programs seeking to increase savings among lower-income households, potential solutions to the erosion of minority wealth during the foreclosure crisis, the economic crisis and retirement security, and ideas for expanding asset policies to include low-income families.
Expanding the Asset Research Field: Opportunities and Challenges, November 2009
Signe-Mary McKernan and Eugene Steuerle will discuss assets research, its applications to public policy, and research questions and future directions for the field at this Urban Institute cosponsored event held at the New America Foundation.
Opportunity and Ownership Over the Life Cycle, May 2008
Held at the Ford Foundation in New York, this roundtable afforded a rare opportunity to bring together diverse experts to examine asset and debt issues that arise over the course of the life cycle—from children’s accounts, through homeownership, and into retirement.
The Future of Subprime Mortgages, July 2007
A panel of experts analyzed what ails the subprime mortgage market and debated what should be done to preserve the benefits of subprime financing while safeguarding homebuyers.
Asset-Related Research
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| Select from the topics below to display relevant research. Wealth Accumulation Over the Life Cycle Wealth Accumulation Early in the Life Cycle Wealth Accumulation in the Middle of the Life Cycle Wealth Accumulation at the End of the Life Cycle Toward an Integrated Wealth Building Policy |
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The Opportunity and Ownership Project is made possible by generous funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Specific publications cited above have also been supported by other valued funders.
Contributing Researchers
Read more about research from the Opportunity and Ownership project.
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