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Title: Family Assets and Child Outcomes: Current Evidence and Future Directions
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Grinstein-Weiss, Michal
Shanks, Trina Williams
Beverly, Sondra
Family Assets and Child Outcomes: Current Evidence and Future Directions
Presented: Washington, DC, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 7-9, 2013
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
Keyword(s): Assets; Children, Well-Being; Educational Attainment; Home Ownership; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In the United States, there are great racial and income disparities in wealth holdings. Asset poverty, the inability to meet basic needs if family income is lost, particularly affects households with children. If a loss of income were to occur, more than half of U.S. families with children lack the liquid assets to support the family at the poverty level for 3 months. Although support exists for asset-building policies, current policies disproportionally favor high-income households. For example, tax deductions are offered for home mortgage interest, but these deductions do not benefit renters or low-income households with limited tax liability. A recent report indicates that the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers received only 4 percent of federal spending on asset-building programs in one budget cycle.

In response to this disparity, the asset-building field has designed and tested several programs designed to help low- and moderate-income families save and build assets. This paper systematically reviews empirical evidence on the relationship between assets and child outcomes. It then examines policy demonstrations that promote asset-building among low-income families. Specifically, we examine evidence from (1) such national data sets as the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth; and (2) quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trials, such as the Community Advantage Program, the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) program, and SEED for Oklahoma Kids.

Bibliography Citation
Grinstein-Weiss, Michal, Trina Williams Shanks and Sondra Beverly. "Family Assets and Child Outcomes: Current Evidence and Future Directions." Presented: Washington, DC, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 7-9, 2013.