Suchergebnisse

Previous research has found that individuals frame savings for short-term and long-term uses. These findings are reinforced through in-depth interviews with 59 participants and 25 controls in an experiment testing the effects of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). All respondents are from low-income households. IDA participants appear more likely than control respondents to earmark savings for long-term purposes and asset investments. This could be interpreted as a result of the institutional saving structure provided through the IDA program. IDA participants are presented with savings goals, which they believe are made attainable through conveyed expectations, matching funds, financial information, and staff facilitation. Interviews suggest that savings may lead to psychological, behavioral, and economic effects. Future research can explore the distinct and marginal effect that each institutional dimension has on savings over the long term and the effects of savings on family well being.

The National Academy of Sciences report on poverty measurement recommended changes to the official measure of poverty in the USA. That report from a panel of experts suggested that it is important to examine the relationship between asset ownership in relation to poverty status. This paper suggests that debt is also an important determinant of economic well-being. While spending down assets can enhance income to make ends meet, servicing debt can be a drain on family income that would otherwise be sufficient to purchase basic necessities. This paper uses data from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine these issues.

This study examines the performances of low-income African Americans in Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), a matched saving program. Using data from the American Dream Demonstration (N = 2,364), this study compares the savings performances of black and white participants in IDAs. The results indicate that low-income African Americans save in IDAs; however, they are saving smaller amounts than Caucasians. Results of separate Tobit regression analyses for blacks and whites indicate that more individual characteristics are associated with savings among Caucasians. In contrast, more institutional characteristics are associated with savings among African Americans. Implications for policymakers and program administrators are given.

This paper investigates gender differences in asset ownership. Specifically, the present case study explores whether a gender-specific composition in asset ownership between heads of households and spouses can be detected among low-income, urban households in Bangkok, Thailand. To examine this issue empirically we use a sample of 134 couples from a 2002 survey. Data collected were at the level of the individual respondent on accumulated physical and financial assets and both husband and wife were interviewed separately. The findings suggest that asset composition varies by gender, indicating that further investigation is warranted on this topic. Tobit and Probit tests are used to examine the factors that may affect this gendered pattern.

Female-headed households in the United States suffer from lower levels of asset ownership than their male-headed counterparts. This gap remains after controlling for the lower incomes of female heads. What, then, produces the gender discrepancy in net worth? Using longitudinal, intergenerational data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we ask whether differential patterns of inheritance, savings rates or investment yield this female-male asset gap. Results demonstrate that differential savings rates between female- and male-headed households account for the gender gap in net worth. We speculate on the financial constraints within female-headed households that account for the savings rate differential.

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) provide poor people with matches for savings used for home purchase, post-secondary education, or microenterprise. Match rates for IDAs in the American Dream Demonstration (ADD) were typically 1:1 or 2:1 but ranged as high as 7:1. How did the match rate affect IDA savings? The analysis here controls for a number of confounding factors often ignored in similar studies of 401(k) plans. In ADD, higher match rates were generally associated on the extensive margin with a greater likelihood of saving something in IDAs and—on the intensive margin for those who saved something—a lower level of IDA savings.

Since official U.S. poverty measures are based solely on income, the amount of wealth held by a family is immaterial in determining their poverty status. This research expands the poverty definition to encompass a family's total financial resources. While most income-poor families have little or no wealth, approximately one-third have significant holdings. Using total financial resources both lowers average U.S. poverty rates over selected years from 15.2% of all families to a range between 8.8% and 11.3% and provides a measurement tool for tracking the effects of government wealth-building programs on families under the poverty line.