The Urban Institute's Opportunity and Ownership project conducts policy research on assets, ownership, and opportunity for low- and middle-income families.
New Release from the Opportunity and Ownership Project
Edited by Signe-Mary McKernan and Michael Sherraden
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Our research is grounded in the premise that low-income families can acquire assets and become more financially secure if given the opportunity. Savings, homeownership, pensions, and microenterprise form a family's safety net should they get hit with a job loss or financial emergency. Assets can sustain seniors in retirement and give low-income Americans a foothold in the middle class.
Our work looks beyond traditional anti-poverty programs to explore ways to encourage self-sufficiency. Most federal spending to promote saving funds tax breaks that often miss low-income families. And asset tests for federal assistance programs can discourage poor families from saving.
Our team consists of Urban Institute experts in asset building, housing, taxes and budget, retirement, and supports for low-income families. We give decisionmakers expert analysis on asset and debt issues at every stage of Americans' lives and offer innovative ways to encourage saving and help families build wealth.
Download the information on this page in PDF format.
Recent Findings
Asset Building and Low-Income Families—Signe-Mary McKernan and Michael Sherraden, editors
The first comprehensive book to assemble and evaluate what is known about asset building for the poor. The authors also chart directions for future research and set the stage for new asset policies that may include low-income households.
Enabling Families to Weather Emergencies and Develop: The Role of Assets—Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe
Assets can help low-income families weather a job loss or financial emergency. The authors recommend better regulation of small loans, subsidized savings accounts, automatic individual retirement accounts, and programs to support home and car ownership. In mid-2008, this essay caught the attention of Senate staff interested in how to make federal asset subsidies, such as the mortgage interest deduction, more equitable.
Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom and Bust—Edward M. Gramlich
This timely primer examines the origin and consequences of the subprime mortgage market. The Los Angeles Times dubbed this bestseller the "bible for reporters and policymakers trying to figure out what had gone wrong." Several of Gramlich's recommendations for tightening mortgage-lending standards were adopted by the Federal Reserve Board.
Children's Savings Accounts: Why Design Matters—Barbara Butrica, Adam Carasso, C. Eugene Steuerle, Desmond Toohey
One path to an ownership society is to endow all children with savings accounts at birth, starting kids off on the right foot and teaching the value of saving. This report shows how specific features of a children's savings account program will affect the distribution of wealth. The paper refocused conceron on whether tax benefits granted under such asset development proposals deserve more attention.
Why Not a "Super Simple" Saving Plan for the United States?—Pamela Perun, C. Eugene Steuerle
Despite decades of significant tax subsidies for pensions and retirement accounts, most Americans retire with little or no savings. The "Super Simple" saving plan laid out here—a basic, low-cost, easily administrable plan—could significantly increase retirement assets for moderate- and middle-income adults. The plan features simpler rules, automatic contribution for employees who don’t opt out, and a significant government match. Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has considered incorporating many of these ideas in a bill he would introduce.
Events
Opportunity and Ownership Over the Life Cycle, May 2008
Held at the Ford Foundation in New York, this roundtable afforded a rare opportunity to bring together diverse experts to examine asset and debt issues that arise over the course of the life cycle—from children’s accounts, through homeownership, and into retirement.
The Future of Subprime Mortgages, July 2007
A panel of experts analyzed what ails the subprime mortgage market and debated what should be done to preserve the benefits of subprime financing while safeguarding homebuyers.
Asset-Related Research
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Select from the topics below to display relevant research.
Wealth Accumulation Over the Life Cycle
Wealth Accumulation Early in the Life Cycle
Wealth Accumulation in the Middle of the Life Cycle
Wealth Accumulation at the End of the Life Cycle
Toward an Integrated Wealth Building Policy
The Opportunity and Ownership Project is made possible by generous funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Specific publications cited above have also been supported by other valued funders.
Contributing Researchers
Edward Gramlich was an integral, inspiring member of the Opportunity & Ownership research team. A sagacious public servant, forward-thinking researcher, and patient teacher, Ned died in September 2007 from leukemia. We dedicate our work to him.
- Barbara Butrica, senior research associate, an economist and expert in retirement income security;
- Adam Carasso, research associate, an analyst in tax, transfer, and retirement policy;
- Henry Chen, research assistant, an analyst in the causes and effects of asset building for low-income households;
- Edward Gramlich, senior fellow, an expert in macroeconomics, public finance, and affordable housing;
- Robert Lerman, senior fellow, an expert in economic inequality, economics of family structure, and labor markets;
- Signe-Mary McKernan, senior research associate and economist, an expert in credit and asset-building for low-income families;
- Gordon Mermin, research associate, an economist focused on factors affecting future retirement needs;
- Lynette Rawlings, research associate, an expert in housing, self-sufficiency, and concentrated poverty;
- Gillian Reynolds, research assistant, an analyst in tax policy;
- Eugene Steuerle, senior fellow, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury;
- Desmond Toohey, research assistant, an analyst in retirement policy and asset development;
- Margery Austin Turner, center director, an expert in housing market discrimination and segregation, housing choice and residential mobility, and housing needs and market assessments; and,
- Sheila Zedlewski, center director, an expert in retirement policy and income security.
Read more about research from the Opportunity and Ownership project.
