Can the Poor Save?: Saving and Asset Building in Individual Development Accounts

by Sherraden,Michael

• ISBN13: 9780202308395
• ISBN10: 0202308391
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-12-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Many policymakers argue that the best poverty policy not only provides cash to the poor for subsistence but also incentives and structures that encourage long-term social and economic improvement. As part of this, they make the case for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), a new policy proposal designed to help the poor save and to build assets. IDAs are matched savings accounts targeted on low-income, low-wealth individuals. Savings in IDAs are used for home ownership, post-secondary education, small business development, and other purposes. Do IDAs work? If they do, for whom? And does how an IDA is designed determine savings outcomes? Can the Poor Save? explores questions such as these concerning IDAs to determine their effectiveness.

Author Biography

Mark Schreiner is a senior scholar in the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis Michael Sherraden is the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development and director of the Center for Social Development, George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements	vii
1. Why Saving and Asset Accumulation by the Poor?	1
2. A Theory of Saving and Asset Building by the Poor in IDAs	15
3. The American Dream Demonstration	45
4. Participants in ADD	81
5. Savings Outcomes in ADD	123
6. IDA Design, Program Structure, and IDA Savings Outcomes	191
7. Participant Characteristics and Savings Outcomes	251
8. Toward Inclusion in Asset-Based Policy	305
References	331
Index	351