Brief Family Savings Policy
Subtitle
Matched Savings Programs Show Promise for Financial Security and Upward Mobility
Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, Gregory B. Mills, Michael Pergamit, Breno Braga
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Policymakers looking to provide evidence-based opportunity for Americans should look to matched savings programs, such as individual development accounts. By matching personal saving, individual development accounts (IDAs) improve financial capability while promoting saving for longer-term investment in a home, business or education. A randomized controlled trial evaluation of the federally supported Assets for Independence IDA program found that after one year, participants in the program saw a $657 median increase in new savings (before matching funds); a 34 percent reduction in reported economic hardship; and a 10 percent increase in participants’ confidence in their ability to meet normal monthly living expenses. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Research Areas Education Wealth and financial well-being Social safety net
Tags Asset and debts Financial knowledge and capability Financial products and services Financial stability Family savings
Policy Centers Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population