Traditional anti-poverty efforts have focused on maintaining a social safety net to protect the poor, there is a growing recognition that economic well-being hinges on a household’s ability to accumulate a wide range of assets. The value of assets is based not only on the economic security they provide but in how they enable people to make productive investments in their future. This approach has contributed to a wide range of policy proposals designed to help households build assets, including matched savings accounts, children’s accounts, and accessible saving plans.
The United Kingdom has been a leader in implementing asset-based welfare policies in the last decade. Specifically the Child Trust Fund (CTF)has generating valuable insights which may be used to inform policymakers in the United States and other countries and assist in development of further policy innovations. The CTF essentially provides a $500 savings account for every child born in the UK and represents the largest and most developed children’s savings account system in the world.
The Asset Building Program has written extensively on the development and progress of the CTF and its implications for policy in the United States. You will find a collection of policy papers, opinion pieces, official statistics and other items relevant to the CTF on this page.
Issue Briefs:
Asset-Based Welfare Policy in the U.K.
By Reid Cramer | November 2007
Opinion:
Events:
From the UK:
Official Statistics:
