Section 530A accounts—commonly known as Trump accounts—are a new type of tax-advantaged investment account for children under age 18 that aims to help families save and invest early in a child’s life. Early administrative data from the US Department of the Treasury suggest about 39 percent of children eligible to receive a one-time $1,000 contribution from the federal government have enrolled in the program, indicating that take-up has been meaningful but is still far from universal.
But whether these accounts will help families, especially those with low incomes, build more wealth, depends not only on how they’re designed, but also whether families are aware of the program.
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, we use data from the Cumulative Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being (CLIMB) study collected in March and April 2026 to evaluate awareness of Trump accounts among a nationally representative group of US adults. The CLIMB study, supported in part by the de Beaumont Foundation and a Johns Hopkins University Nexus Award, is sourced from the AmeriSpeak panel run by NORC at the University of Chicago.
We find that though 60 percent of US adults report being aware of Trump accounts, awareness is not evenly distributed across the population. Families whose children stand to benefit the most from early wealth-building accounts were less likely to know about the program.
Awareness is highest among people with higher incomes, older adults, and white people
We find that awareness was strongly patterned by socioeconomic status. Adults with higher incomes and savings of more than $5,000 were significantly more likely to report being aware of Trump accounts than people with lower incomes and savings.
This pattern is consistent with evidence showing that financially secure households are often more attuned to new financial products and policy opportunities.
Awareness also varied by sex and race and ethnicity. Women were less likely than men to report awareness of Trump accounts, indicating a potential gap in how information about the program is being disseminated or received.
Further, 66 percent of white people said they were aware, compared with 47 percent of Black people and 49 percent of Hispanic people. In 2022, white families had six times the average wealth of Black families and Hispanic families, so ensuring Black and Hispanic families are aware of and have access to wealth-building programs is especially important.
Additionally, awareness differed by age. Older adults were more likely to report awareness than younger adults, even though younger adults are more likely to have young children eligible for the accounts.
This mismatch raises important questions about whether information about the program is reaching the populations most likely to benefit.
Taken together, these findings suggest that while overall awareness is relatively high, it is concentrated among groups who are already more likely to have financial resources and familiarity with the financial system.
What could be driving the gap in awareness and uptake of Trump accounts?
The contrast between awareness (about 60 percent of adults) and early enrollment (approximately 39 percent of eligible children) suggests that awareness level alone is unlikely to fully explain current participation patterns.
Several factors may contribute to this gap. Our overall awareness measure includes adults without eligible children, which may inflate awareness relative to enrollment. At the same time, our findings raise the possibility that some eligible families who are aware of the program are not choosing to enroll.
Previous research on savings programs and tax-advantaged accounts has found administrative complexity, limited trust in financial institutions, competing financial priorities, and uncertainty about program rules can create barriers to take-up. In opt-in programs, like Trump accounts, even a relatively small amount of friction, such as completing forms or navigating new processes, can substantially reduce participation, particularly among households with lower incomes.
The disparities in awareness we found further suggest these barriers are likely compounded for populations with fewer resources. If families with lower incomes are both less aware of the program and face higher barriers to enrollment, Trump accounts could benefit fewer families than intended.
Expanding wealth-building opportunities for the next generation
Access to and engagement with programs like Trump accounts matters, as research suggests early access to savings vehicles can shape children’s long-term financial behavior. Children with early life asset-building accounts are more likely to engage meaningfully with the financial system as they age (PDF), and people with greater financial assets are more likely to report better mental health and fewer stressors.
This early snapshot of awareness during the initial rollout of Trump accounts highlights the importance of monitoring both awareness and participation as the program scales. In the long term, more research will be needed to understand how awareness evolves, how it translates into enrollment, and which policy features most effectively promote uptake. Data that capture how enrollment differs across race and ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status will also be key to assessing whether the program has reached families with fewer resources.
Ensuring that information about Trump accounts reaches all eligible families, and that enrollment processes are accessible and straightforward, will be central to achieving the program’s goals of expanding wealth-building opportunities for the next generation.
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