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The big lift: Federal policy efforts to create Child Development Accounts

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  • Cramer, Reid

Abstract

Children's accounts have been proposed as a means for creating an inclusive and accessible system for asset building throughout the life course. The idea gained traction in multiple settings, leading to a series of policies and demonstration projects across the globe. In the United Kingdom, the policy was adopted in the form of the Child Trust Fund program which began in 2005. A privately-funded project called the SEED Demonstration was launched in the United States in 2003. During this period a number of different children's savings account policy proposals have been made at the federal level in the United States. The details of these proposals differ but as a group reflect the recognition by select policymakers of the promise of this intervention. In particular, it has the potential to seed the savings process, facilitate financial education, increase economic opportunity, promote social development, and begin a lifelong process of asset accumulation. The introduction and evolution of this policy idea over the past five years has been instructive. It has indicated the types of policy design choices that will have to be addressed if this policy is to be implemented on a large-scale. The big lift will not just be getting this idea further into policy discussions, but will entail the consideration of a wide range of complex implementation issues including how the system would be funded and administered. This paper describes, the policy development process to date, analyzes the policy design choices and tradeoffs, reviews policy insights from demonstration projects, and assesses how the shifting political landscape may influence future policy deliberations and create implementation opportunities in the U.S.

Suggested Citation

  • Cramer, Reid, 2010. "The big lift: Federal policy efforts to create Child Development Accounts," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1538-1543, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:32:y:2010:i:11:p:1538-1543
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sherraden, Margaret & Peters, Clark & Wagner, Kristen & Guo, Baorong & Clancy, Margaret, 2013. "Contributions of qualitative research to understanding savings for children and youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 66-77.
    2. Elliott, William, 2013. "Small-dollar children's savings accounts and children's college outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 572-585.
    3. Terri Friedline & Mary Rauktis, 2014. "Young People Are the Front Lines of Financial Inclusion: A Review of 45 Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 535-602, October.
    4. Terri Friedline, 2015. "A Developmental Perspective on Children's Economic Agency," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 39-68, March.
    5. Terri Friedline & Ilsung Nam, 2014. "Savings From Ages 16 to 35: A Test to Inform Child Development Account Policy," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 46-70, March.
    6. Terri Friedline & Stacia West, 2016. "Financial Education is not Enough: Millennials May Need Financial Capability to Demonstrate Healthier Financial Behaviors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 649-671, December.
    7. Elliott, William & Destin, Mesmin & Friedline, Terri, 2011. "Taking stock of ten years of research on the relationship between assets and children's educational outcomes: Implications for theory, policy and intervention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2312-2328.
    8. Lewis, Melinda & Cramer, Reid & Elliott, William & Sprague, Aleta, 2014. "Policies to promote economic stability, asset building, and child development," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 15-21.
    9. Friedline, Terri & Elliott, William, 2013. "Connections with banking institutions and diverse asset portfolios in young adulthood: Children as potential future investors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 994-1006.

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