Digital Commons Network^™

Youth Savings Patterns And Performance In Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, And Nepal, Lissa Johnson, Yungsoo Lee, David Ansong, Margaret S. Sherraden, Gina Chowa, Fred Ssewamala, Li Zou, Michael Sherraden, Moses Njenga, Joseph Kieyah, Issac Osei-Akoto, Sharad Sharma, Jyoti Manandhar, Catherine Rodriguez Orgales, Frederico Merchán, Juan Saavedra

Center for Social Development Research

Youth Savings Patterns and Performance in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal

Characteristics And Hardships Associated With Bank Account Ownership Among Refund To Savings Participants, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Dana C. Perantie, Jane E. Oliphant, Anna Deruyter, Mathieu R. Despard

Center for Social Development Research

Having a bank account is one important way for households to securely accumulate savings, build credit, and earn interest on assets. Nationally, 7.7% of households are unbanked—lacking both a checking and a savings account. One proposed step toward financial inclusion is to encourage unbanked households to open accounts and deposit refunds into savings at tax time, when many low-income households receive the year’s largest lump sum of cash. This brief utilizes data from the 2013 Refund to Savings study to summarize differences between banked and unbanked households. The findings show that unbanked status is a marker for other financial disadvantages, …

A Borrowed Language, Yvonne Osei

Graduate School of Art Theses

Art has the potency of mediation: bridging human differences, questioning voids in historical trajectories, negotiating spaces of relevance, and most importantly, being signifiers that embody the absent. I speak in a borrowed language, a multilingual visual tongue, inspired by a culmination of Western and African Art modes of practices to create charged platforms for multicultural communication.

My art presents visual portals that allow for intercultural and interracial mingling as issues of colorism, present-day colonialism, gender inequality and the politics of dress are foregrounded for collective deliberation. The essence of the work is often activated and brought to its full potential …

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

Center for Social Development Research

This research summary consolidates 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). Studies report the positive impacts of the CDA on financial outcomes (e.g., OK 529 college savings account holding and savings) and on nonfinancial outcomes (e.g., educational expectations, mother’s mental health, and child development). The impacts are often greater for disadvantaged and at-risk children. of note, the automatic components make the CDA in SEED OK inclusive and reduce asset inequality early in life. SEED OK studies indicate the importance of automatic account …

Testing Universal Child Development Accounts: Financial Impacts In A Large Social Experiment, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden, Jin Huang

Center for Social Development Research

This study examines financial impacts of Child Development Accounts (CDAs) designed to build assets for every newborn in the treatment group. Data come from the randomized SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment 7 years after the intervention began. The CDA’s automatic features have large impacts on account holding and asset accumulation for college, and especially so for disadvantaged children. This is an important finding because having designated college savings likely shapes children’s educational expectations, which in turn likely influences their precollege academic behavior and achievement. Moreover, demonstrating full inclusion—that is, accounts and assets for all newborns—sets the stage for more equitable …

Americans’ Attitudes About Prescription Painkiller Abuse, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

A new poll of adults in the United States by Stat and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that just days after the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 through the U.S. Senate, more than two in five Americans believe that the amount of money the government currently spends on treatment programs for people addicted to prescription painkillers or heroin is too low. Despite historic levels of partisan polarization, self-identified Democrats and Republicans nationwide agree not on only increases in government addiction treatment funding, but also on treatment instead of incarceration for drug offenses, …

Americans’ Attitudes About Cancer, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

A new poll of adults in the United States by Stat and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds substantial bipartisan support for the National Cancer Moonshot ─ a $1billion initiative announced by the White House in 2016 to “prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.” Nearly half of Americans believe a 20 percent increase in federal funding for cancer research is about right, while more than a third would like to see an even greater rise in funding. This strong support is likely related to perceived gains in the efficacy of cancer treatment and the extent to which Americans perceive …

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Kansas, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: New Jersey, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Wisconsin, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: A Look At Seven States And The Nation, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Texas, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Oregon, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Florida, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

Patients’ Perspectives On Health Care In The United States: Ohio, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

The landscape and experience of health care in the United States has changed dramatically in the last two years. January 2014 saw insurance purchased on state exchanges and the federal marketplace go into effect, the start of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and its accompanying subsidies and tax credits for qualifying Americans, discrimination protections, including pre-existing conditions, for those seeking to buy health insurance, and the implementation of essential health benefits for all plans sold through the insurance marketplace.

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

How The Emerging U.S. Retirement System Magnifies Wealth Inequality, Karl Polzer

Center for Social Development Research

Wealth inequality and financial inclusion have long been hot topics in international economic development. They now have taken center stage in the U.S. presidential primary debates. As more analysts probe this phenomenon in various policy areas, they may find that America’s continuing shift to a “defined contribution” (DC) retirement system is playing a role in increasing the concentration of wealth.

Community Based System Dynamic As An Approach For Understanding And Acting On Messy Problems: A Case Study For Global Mental Health Intervention In Afghanistan, Jean-Francois Trani, Ellis Ballard, Parul Bakhshi, Peter Hovmand

Brown School Faculty Publications

Background: Afghanistan lacks suitable specialized mental healthcare services despite high prevalence of severe mental health disorders which are aggravated by the conflict and numerous daily stressors. Recent studies have shown that Afghans with mental illness are not only deprived of care but are vulnerable in many other ways. Innovative participatory approaches to the design of mental healthcare policies and programs are needed in such challenging context. Methods: We employed community based system dynamics to examine interactions between multiple factors and actors to examine the problem of persistently low service utilization for people with mental illness. Group model building sessions, designed …

Collective Action Dynamics In Urban Neighborhoods: A Study Of Urban Community Gardens, Nishesh Chalise

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Lessons from various policies and programs both in the United States and international development have led to a knowledge base concluding that an engaged community is a critical component for developing a thriving community. This is based on a premise that even in the modernized world community still has a role to play along with government and the market in their own development. Community’s role is further highlighted in areas such as low-income urban neighborhoods where both the government and the market may not be able to fulfill all the needs.Research has followed by trying to understand why people engage …

The Role Of Trauma And Mental Health Problems In The Perpetration Of Intimate Partner Violence In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Sarah Myers Tlapek

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Exposure to political violence or war is associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) in post-conflict settings (Clark et al., 2010; Gupta, Reed, Kelly, Stein, & Williams, 2012), and civilians and veterans who develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after exposure to combat or violence are more likely to perpetrate violence against an intimate partner (Taft, Watkins, Stafford, Street, & Monson, 2011). Rwandan health professionals estimate that after the 1994 genocide more than one-quarter of the country’s population now suffers from PTSD (Munyandamutsa, Nkubamugisha, Gex-Fabry, & Eytan, 2012). Although the majority of Rwandan women (56%) have experienced IPV in their lifetime (National …

Asset-Based Policy In South Korea, Youngmi Kim, Li Zou, Soyoon Weon, Michael Sherraden, Jin Yong Choi

Center for Social Development Research

Asset building was first discussed at the 56th Korean National Meetings in November 2004. In November 2006, the conference “Toward a New Paradigm in Social Policy: The Potential of Child Development Accounts in Asset-Based Social Policy,” organized by the Korean Labor Institute and Chung Ang University, generated substantial discussion and reinforced interest in asset-based policy in Korea.

Building Children's Assets In Singapore: The Beginning Of A Lifelong Policy, Vernon Loke, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Singapore has comprehensive lifelong asset-building policies for its citizens. Four programs specifically target children: (1) Children Development Accounts (CDAs) for children starting at birth to age 12; (2) the Edusave account for school children aged six to 17; (3) Postsecondary Education accounts (PSEAs) for children aged 13 years and older; and (4) the Medisave Account, which is opened for every newborn.

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

Engineering A New Home: Creating A Repository Collection For Faculty And Building A Larger Digital Presence For The School Of Engineering, Lauren Todd, Emily Symonds Stenberg

WashU Libraries Presentations

This talk is an expanded version of one given at the 2015 MOBIUS conference. Washington University librarians Emily Stenberg and Lauren Todd explain how they created and manage a collection in the university’s repository Open Scholarship for the Computer Science and Engineering department. This presentation will highlight how they developed a step-by-step workflow, addressed customization requests from the department, what really happened once that plan was implemented, and how they handle Bepress troubleshooting and faculty concerns. The presenters will also discuss how this project has helped them offer Open Scholarship as a service to other engineering faculty.

The Controversy Of Rising Drug Prices: The Public’S Views, R. J. Blendon, J. M. Benson, Caitlin L. Mcmurtry, J. M. Sayde

Brown School Faculty Publications

A new poll of adults in the United States by STAT and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that public concerns about the unreasonableness of brand-name prescription drug prices is fueling support for major governmental action to negotiate or set brand-name drug prices in the future.

Disabled Women’S Attendance At Community Women’S Groups In Rural Nepal, J. Morrison, T. Colbourn, B. Budhathoki, A. Sen, D. Adhikari, J. Bamjan, S. Pathak, A. Basnet, J. F. Trani, A. Costello, D. Manandhar, N. Groce

Brown School Faculty Publications

There is strong evidence that participatory approaches to health and participatory women’s groups hold great potential to improve the health of women and children in resource poor settings. It is important to consider if interventions are reaching the most marginalized, and therefore we examined disabled women’s participation in women’s groups and other community groups in rural Nepal. People with disabilities constitute 15% of the world’s population and face high levels of poverty, stigma, social marginalization and unequal access to health resources, and therefore their access to women’s groups is particularly important. We used a mixed methods approach to describe attendance …

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 Evolution Of International Volunteering, Benjamin J. Lough Phd

Center for Social Development Research

This historical review examines the evolution of large government-supported international volunteer cooperation organizations from the UN First Development Decade to the post-2015 sustainable development era.

The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer's Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time Is The Right Time To Save, Meredith Covington, Janie Oliphant, Dana Perantie, Michael Grinstein-Weiss

Center for Social Development Research

The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer's Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time Is the Right Time to Save

Youth Saving Patterns And Performance In Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, And Nepal: Key Findings, Lissa Johnson, Yungsoo Lee, David Ansong, Margaret S. Sherraden, Gina A. N. Chowa, Fred Ssewamala, Li Zou, Moses Njenga, Joseph Kieyah, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Sharad Sharma, Jyoti Manandhar, Catherine Rodriguez, Frederico Merchán, Juan Saavedra, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

If provided an opportunity to save via formal financial services, do youth in developing countries participate, save, and accumulate assets? This was one of the key questions asked in YouthSave. Savings accounts were created in four developing countries, targeting youth aged 12 to 18 years from predominantly low-income households. This brief highlights research findings on account uptake and savings from the Savings Demand Assessment (SDA).