Social Work Commons^™

Policy Design For Child Development Accounts: Parents' Perceptions, Sondra Beverly, Jin Huang, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, which features of Child Development Account (CDA) policy do study participants perceive as important for increasing the number of children who earn a college degree or trade school certificate? Which features do participants view as important for encouraging parents to save for their children’s postsecondary education?

This brief presents findings from a 2020 survey of parents in the experiment, when their children were about 13 years old. Results are for 1,666 parents (those whose children received the CDA in SEED OK and those whose children did not) and for subgroups defined by household …

Faculty Perspectives On Financial Capability And Asset Building In Social Work Education: A Research Report, Margaret S. Sherraden, Jin Huang, Lissa Johnson, Peter Dore, Julie Birkenmaier, Vernon Loke, Sally Hageman

Center for Social Development Research

This report is based on a study conducted in collaboration with the Council on Social Work Education. The report presents findings from a national online survey of social work faculty. Results identify financial and economic (F&E) content taught in the current curriculum, gaps in coverage, and strategies for improving the academic preparation of social workers in these areas. Findings will inform financial capability and asset-building curriculum and improve the academic preparation of social workers.

The Experience Of Volatility In Low- And Moderate-Income Households: Results From A National Survey, Stephen P. Roll, David S. Mitchell, Sam Bufe, Gracie Lynne, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

This is the first in a series of briefs that the Center for Social Development has produced in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC) and the Intuit Tax and Financial Center. It highlights new data on the prevalence of income and expense volatility in low- and moderate-income households.

Home Delinquency Rates Are Lower Among Aca Marketplace Households: Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Emily A. Gallagher, Radhakrishnan Gopalon, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Stephen P. Roll, Genevieve Davison

Center for Social Development Research

This brief uses administrative income tax data coupled with survey responses from roughly 5,000 households living near the poverty line to estimate how access to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplaces have affected households’ experiences of extreme illiquidity, which is measured by delinquencies on home payments. To estimate this relationship, we exploit a natural experiment underway in states that did not expand Medicaid and created by the eligibility rules for Marketplace subsidies. Results suggest that insured households living near the poverty line are better able to make timely rent and mortgage payments compared with similar, uninsured households. Given housing …

Leveraging Tax Time To Build Financial Capability: Research Evidence And Policy Directions, Meredith Covington, Jane E. Oliphant, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Over the past decade, a variety of initiatives have been implemented in the United States to facilitate saving and build financial security at tax time, including national experiments, pilot programs, and federal and state policies. Much progress has been made in encouraging tax filers, especially low- to moderate-income (LMI) tax filers, to save a portion of their refund. To expand upon the “golden moment” of saving at tax time, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers must now seek ways in which the lump sum of saving at tax time can serve to render tax filers capable of confidently managing their financial lives. …

Financial Outcomes In Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment is a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). This fact sheet highlights selected SEED OK financial outcomes measured between 2007 and 2014. Because of SEED OK’s automatic account opening and initial deposits, the CDA has especially large impacts on OK 529 savings among disadvantaged children. Advantaged children are more likely than disadvantaged children to have individual savings in OK 529 accounts, and average individual savings are higher for advantaged children. But, the CDA increases the likelihood that disadvantaged children have OK 529 accounts opened by their …

The Burden Of Student Debt: Findings From A Survey Of Low- And Moderate-Income Households, Mathieu R. Despard, Samuel H. Taylor, Dana C. Perantie, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Completing a college degree continues to offer a pathway for enjoying greater earnings. Yet tuition has risen sharply and state higher-education funding has declined in recent years, shifting the burden of paying for college to students and their families. As a result, most students (70%) depend on loans to help pay for college and student debt is now greater than credit card debt in the United States. Student debt is increasingly difficult to manage, as debt-to-income ratios, loan default rates, and delinquency rates are on the rise. This brief utilizes data from the 2014 Refund to Savings study to examine …

Support For A Tax-Time Savings Policy: Interest In Deferring Tax Refunds With Matched Incentives, Dana C. Perantie, Jane E. Oliphant, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Support for a Tax-Time Savings Policy: Interest in Deferring Tax Refunds With Matched Incentives

Use Of Alternative Financial Services Among Low- And Moderate-Income Households: Findings From A Large-Scale National Household Financial Survey, Mathieu R. Despard, Dana C. Perantie, Lingzi Luo, Jane Oliphant, Michal Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

Use of Alternative Financial Services Among Low- and Moderate-Income Households: Findings From a Large-Scale National Household Financial Survey

Residential Mobility During Adolescence: Even "Upward" Moves Predict High School Dropout, Molly W. Metzger, Patrick J. Fowler, Bennett Kelberman

Center for Social Development Research

Racial and economic segregation have long endured as systemic challenges in U.S. metropolitan areas. To combat the inequalities of segregation, two broad policy approaches have emerged: (1) preservation stresses investment in low-income neighborhoods, and (2) mobility stresses moving households in low-income areas to more affluent areas. Our recent study reveals some possible unintended consequences of the latter approach, particularly for adolescents. We find that moving during adolescence is associated with decreased odds of graduating from high school, even when moving to significantly higher income neighborhoods.

The Seed For Oklahoma Kids Child Development Account Experiment: Accounts, Assets, Earnings, And Savings, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret M. Clancy, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This brief presents the latest results from SEED for Oklahoma Kids, a pathbreaking randomized experiment to test the effects of automatic, universal, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs) in a statewide sample. Key features of the CDA are automatic opening of a 529 account and an automatic initial $1,000 deposit. The results show that CDAs with automatic deposits invested in a 529 plan may enable children to accumulate meaningful levels of assets over time, even if their families do not contribute to the accounts. As the brief indicates, the new results also have key implications for public policy.

Social And Emotional Learning And Social Work In Middle School: A Case Study In Community Partnership, Anne S. Robertson, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Saras Chung, Allison Williams, Victoria May

Center for Social Development Research

Social and emotional learning is increasingly being recognized for its role in urban school reform despite current school improvement efforts focused on academic outcomes. This paper presents a case study in community partnership between a middle school, a community-based organization, and a research university, to implement a social and emotional program in seventh grade social studies. Highlighted is the importance of trust and communication among all partners—including administrators, researchers, front-line staff, teachers, and students. It also suggests a framework to expand school partnerships to include schools of social work, especially when the focus is on social and emotional learning.

Working With Passion, Effecting Change In A Context Of Uncertainty, Sandra M. Moore

Center for Social Development Research

This CSD Perspective has been adapted from a commencement address given by Sandra M. Moore on May 14, 2015, before the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

Head Start Family Financial Capability: 2013–2014 Annual Report Of The Asset Project, Jami Curley, Anne S. Robertson

Center for Social Development Research

Head Start Family Financial Capability: 2013–2014 Annual Report of the Asset Project

Does Unsecured Debt Decrease Savings? Evidence From The Refund To Savings Initiative, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Jane Oliphant, Blair D. Russell, Ray Boshara

Center for Social Development Research

Does Unsecured Debt Decrease Savings? Evidence From the Refund to Savings Initiative

Community Partner Perspectives Of Dukeengage: 2011–2013, Sarita Barton, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Jaclyn Demarse Purtell

Center for Social Development Research

Community Partner Perspectives of Dukeengage: 2011–2013

Refund To Savings 2013: Comprehensive Report On A Large-Scale Tax-Time Saving Program, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Dana C. Perantie, Blair D. Russell, Krista Comer, Samuel H. Taylor, Lingzi Luo, Clinton Key, Dan Ariely

Center for Social Development Research

Refund to Savings 2013: Comprehensive Report on a Large-Scale Tax-Time Saving Program

Closing The Racial Wealth Gap: Innovative Solutions For Change, Southern Regional Asset Building Coalition

Center for Social Development Research

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap: Innovative Solutions for Change

The Early Positive Impacts Of Child Development Accounts, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This research brief highlights the findings of several studies from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, a large-scale policy test of universal, automatic, and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs). The universal and automatic components make the CDA in SEED OK inclusive by providing college accounts and savings to all treatment children. These studies primarily report the positive impacts of the CDA on nonfinancial outcomes (e.g., educational expectations, mother’s mental health, and child development). The impacts are often greater for disadvantaged children.

College Savings Plans: A Platform For Inclusive And Progressive Child Development Accounts, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden, Sondra G. Beverly

Center for Social Development Research

College Savings Plans: A Platform for Inclusive and Progressive Child Development Accounts

Economic Intervention And Parenting: A Randomized Experiment Of Statewide Child Development Accounts, Yunju Nam, Nora Wikoff, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Objective: We examine the effects of Child Development Accounts (CDAs) on parenting stress and practices. Methods: We use data from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment. SEED OK selected caregivers of infants from Oklahoma birth certificates using a probability sampling method, randomly assigned caregivers to the treatment (n = 1,32) or control group (n = 1,098), and provided college savings incentives only to the treatment group. We run regression analyses on a parenting stress scale and six continuous measures of parenting practices. Results: There were no significant differences in parenting outcomes between treatment and control groups, with the …

The Early Good News About Child Development Accounts, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This brief summary of early research findings from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment may help Child Development Account (CDA) proponents communicate the value of such accounts to policymakers, educators and others.

Rebound Neighborhoods In Older Industrial Cities: The Story Of St. Louis, Hank Webber, Todd Swanstrom

Center for Social Development Research

Rebound Neighborhoods in Older Industrial Cities: The Story of St. Louis

Lack Of Emergency Savings Puts American Households At Risk, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Blair Russell, Brad Tucker, Krista Comer

Center for Social Development Research

Lack of Emergency Savings Puts American Households at Risk

Motivating Students Through Classroom-Based Service Learning: Toward Adoption And Impact, Anne S. Robertson, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Saras Chung, Allison Williams

Center for Social Development Research

Motivating Students Through Classroom-Based Service Learning: Toward Adoption and Impact

Research Report: Assessing The Impacts Of Service Learning On Middle School Students: Wyman's Teen Outreach Program®, Amanda Moore Mcbride, Anne Robertson, Saras Chung

Center for Social Development Research

Research Report: Assessing the Impacts of Service Learning on Middle School Students: Wyman's Teen Outreach Program®

Research Summary: Testing Universal College Savings Accounts At Birth: Early Research From Seed For Oklahoma Kids, Sondra G. Beverly, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

SEED for Oklahoma Kids is a large-scale policy test of automatic and progressive Child Development Accounts (CDAs), and it is the first truly universal model in the United States. The SEED OK CDA is universal in that it opens an Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan (OK 529) account on behalf of every infant in the treatment group. This report summarizes key findings and conclusions from SEED for Oklahoma Kids research. Even at this early stage, SEED OK research is informing policy and the design of college savings plans at the state level. Amore recent summary of SEED OK research is …

Automatic Deposits For All At Birth: Maine's Harold Alfond College Challenge, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The first statewide Child Development Account (CDA) in the United States announced a major change in strategy to automatically enroll all newborns. Evidence from CDA research has contributed to the decision by the College Challenge to remove its original opt-in requirement—in which parents must enroll their newborns in the state’s 529 college savings plan to receive a $500 grant—in favor of universal enrollment—in which every child is enrolled automatically at birth with a $500 grant.

Building A Lifetime Of Economic Security: Mobilizing For Change, Center For Social Development

Center for Social Development Research

Building a Lifetime of Economic Security: Mobilizing for Change

Refund To Savings: 2013 Results From A National Experiment To Build Financial Stability At Tax Time, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Krista Comer, Blair Russell, Clinton Key, Dana C. Perantie, Dan Ariely

Center for Social Development Research

Refund to Savings: 2013 Results From a National Experiment to Build Financial Stability at Tax Time