Poor Finances: Assets and Low-Income Households

The Effects of Welfare and IDA Program Rules on the Asset Holdings of Low-Income Families

September 2007

By:
Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe
The Urban Institute
and
Yunju Nam
Center for Social Development
Washington University in St. Louis

This report was prepared for and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS/ASPE) under Order Number GS23F8198H / HHSP233200400131U to the Urban Institute and its collaborators at the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis, and the New America Foundation. This report was prepared between September 2004 and July 2007. John Tambornino, Linda Mellgren, and Jeremías Alvarez at HHS were project officers, Signe-Mary McKernan of the Urban Institute was overall project director, and Michael Sherraden directed the work at CSD. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not represent official positions of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its sponsors.

Project Home Page:
Poor Finances: Assets and Low-Income Households

This report is available on the Internet at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/PoorFinances/assets/index.htm

Printer Friendly Version in PDF format (59 pages)

How to Obtain a Printed Copy

Contents

Executive Summary (in PDF format, 4 pages)

Acknowledgments

Introduction to the Series

Chapters

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Literature
  4. Study Population
  5. Data
  6. Methodology
  7. Results
  8. Conclusion
  9. References
  10. Appendix Tables
  11. Appendix: Program Rules Data Documentation

Acknowledgments

The report has benefited from helpful comments and suggestions from Jeremías Alvarez, Alana Landy, Gretchen Lehman, Ann McCormick, Linda Mellgren, Don Oellerich, and Canta Pian of ASPE and John Tambornino of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)/HHS. William Margrabe at the Urban Institute provided excellent research assistance.

This report is part of a series entitled Poor Finances:  Assets and Low-Income Households, produced in a partnership between the Urban Institute, Center for Social Development, and New America Foundation. We thank the team members at the Center for Social Development and New America Foundation for their positive and productive partnership.

How to Obtain a Printed Copy

To obtain a printed copy of this report, send the title and your mailing information to:

Human Services Policy, Room 404E
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20201

Fax:  (202) 690-6562

You may just print the PDF version (59 pages).

Where to?

Top of Page | Contents

Home Pages:
Poor Finances: Assets and Low-Income Households: Project Page
Human Services Policy (HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Last updated:  10/11/2007