Children's Savings: How Far We've Come

Children's Savings Accounts have received a great deal of attention in 2014. The incoming Chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), made a splash when he highlighted CSAs as one of his top priorities upon taking the gavel. The Center for Social Development published research showing that their research pilot in Oklahoma, SEED OK, is making a significant difference in the real lives of children and their parents in that great state. Officials in Maine transformed their CSA program from an impressive but limited effort into the nation's first universal, at-birth CSA program. Our friends at CFED held a conference dedicated to CSAs that drew hundreds of attendees and highlighted the incredible growth of the field from coast to coast. Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA) introduced a plan to remove CSAs from consideration in asset tested public assistance.
 
With all these developments in mind we thought it would be a good idea to pull together information about this growing field of practice and evidence and explore what it means for designing a truly national CSA plan. So we're pleased to announce the publication of a new paper, Children's Savings Accounts: Research, Practice, and Implications for Policy Design.
 
Along with many of you, we've been paying attention to and working on this issue for years (next month will mark 10 years since the first introduction of the ASPIRE Act), but so many new stakeholders have been introduced to the discussion, this paper should serve as a useful introductory guide for many.
 
We've learned a great deal in the past decade, and that knowledge needs to shape our efforts moving forward. Most importantly, we've learned that the basic hypothesis undergirding CSAs is strong and that promoting children's savings remains a powerful and underutilized tool to promote financial inclusion and capability, academic achievement and upward mobility. We look forward to continuing to build on all that's been learned and working to create equal opportunity for saving and development for all our children.

You can read the whole paper here.