Principal Investigators:
Signe-Mary McKernan and Michael Sherraden
The Urban Institute
Project began September 2007
This project is available on the Internet at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/PoorFinances/
How to obtain printed copies of reports
Overview
Poor Finances is a series of reports on poverty, asset building, and
social policy. The purpose of the series is to assess the nascent state
of knowledge and policy development and to synthesize recent progress in
these areas. America has a longstanding history of promoting ownership,
and new opportunities for people to save will likely increase the number
of individuals and families able to build assets and improve the economic
security of all Americans. Greater inclusivity and accessibility of
traditional approaches to expanding ownership may make it easier for lower
and middle income families to save. While the focus of this series
of reports is on asset accumulation and asset-based policies for low-income
individuals and families, the conceptual frameworks developed are not limited
to low-income populations. This broad approach helps to identify the
overall critical issues that relate to asset holding for all populations.
Introduction to the Series
Available Reports in the Series:
-
The Effects of Welfare and IDA Program Rules
on the Asset Holdings of Low-Income Families, September 2007.
This report examines the effects of a comprehensive set of 13 welfare, food
stamp, individual development account (IDA), earned income tax credit (EITC),
and minimum wage program rules on the asset holdings of low-education, single
mothers and families. (Low-education was used as a proxy for low-income,
to address fluctuations in income over time.) More specifically, this
original analysis of extant data examines the effects of varying asset limits
across state TANF programs, treatment of different types of assets, and state
efforts to encourage asset accumulation among TANF recipients.
-
Assessing Asset Data on Low-Income
Households: Current Availability and Options for Improvement,
September 2007.
This report identifies three data sets as the most reliable and informative
data sources for understanding low-income households assets and
liabilities: the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the Survey of Income
and Program Participation (SIPP), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics
(PSID). The report also details the limitations of these data sets
and provides options for improving asset data sources and collection
methods. In doing so, the report provides a framework for refining
the primary sources of data necessary to pursuing future research in the
assets field.
-
The Balance Sheets of Low-Income
Households: What We Know about Their Assets and Liabilities,
November 2007.
This report synthesizes current research and other available information
on the assets and liabilities of low-income households into a variety of
portraits. These data allow practitioners and researchers to begin
to form a comprehensive representation of the balance sheets of low-income
households and sets the stage for future research and policy discussion around
the finances of low-income households.
-
Determinants of Asset Building,
March 2008.
This report provides a policy-oriented conceptual framework that has the
potential to explain saving and asset accumulation across the entire population
and to account for the low levels of saving and asset accumulation in the
low-income population. The report also reviews empirical evidence that
supports or challenges this framework.
-
Asset Building over the Life
Course, November 2008.
This report provides a conceptual framework describing how asset accumulation
unfolds over an individuals lifetime and how the effects of such
accumulation can best be understood within the context of the life course.
The report identifies five factors that are important in understanding the
low levels of asset accumulation among low-income households and places these
factors within the context of time, aging, development, and sequencing.
-
Effects of Holding Assets on Social and
Economic Outcomes of Families: A Review of Theory and Evidence,
November 2008.
This report provides a conceptual framework on the effects of asset holding
and reviews the empirical literature based on this framework. The report
distills the main findings on how assets influence economic, social,
psychological, and child well-being and provides empirical support for the
benefits of asset building.
-
Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy:
Challenges in Definition and Measurement, December 2008.
This report reviews the definitions and measures of assets and asset poverty
in existing theoretical and empirical studies and suggests ways to make them
more relevant for future research and policy development. In doing
so, the report establishes a conceptual foundation for an emerging field
of inquiry that focuses on the role of assets in social policy.
To obtain a printed copy of any of the above reports, 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
Email: pic@hhs.gov
You may also just print the PDF version.
Where to?
Top of Page
Home Pages:
Human Services Policy (HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
(ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS)
Last updated: 03/20/2009