Social Work Commons^™

Data For Social Impact - Data Persona Worksheet, Jenrose Fitzgerald, Dan Ferris, Amelia Parnell

Center for Social Development Research

Developed in collaboration with Amelia Parnell and drawing upon the framework from Parnell's 2021 book You Are a Data Person: Strategies for Using Analytics on Campus, this worksheet facilitates exploration of data identity and the identification of data personas.

Design And Delivery Of Trump Accounts: Clearing Fund And Custodian Network With Automatic Enrollment, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Enacting legislation established the federal Trump Accounts policy and directed the U.S. Treasury Department to implement it. Drawing upon insights and evidence from Child Development Account research conducted by the Center for Social Development and others, this brief proposes a two-step strategy for the policy’s implementation: (a) a clearing fund and custodian network and (b) a three-pathway automatic-enrollment system. The brief details the proposal and discusses its implications.

Racial And Ethnic Differences In Experiencing Administrative Burdens In Public Benefit Programs, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Yung Chun, Kourtney Gilbert

Center for Social Development Research

Complex program rules can make it difficult to enroll and stay in public programs. These barriers are administrative burdens, the difficulties program applicants and participants face in accessing the benefits to which they are entitled under law. Drawing upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,511 low-wage U.S. workers, this brief examines whether the experience of administrative burdens in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid vary by the race and ethnicity of the individual interacting with the program.

Beyond Money: Early Asset-Building Policy Supports Mothers, Strengthens Families, And Builds Children’S Futures, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden, Margaret Clancy, Lissa Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

To foster stronger futures for children and families in the United States, policymakers and researchers are increasingly turning their attention to early-life asset-building policies, recognizing that such policies are vital components of family well-being and support. In this brief, CSD researchers discuss evidence from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment (SEED OK), which shows that Child Development Account policy shapes mothers, families, and children in profound ways. Child Development Accounts, they conclude, represent a scalable and bipartisan family-support policy, offering early and automatic foundation that reinforces parental hopes and planning while promoting both equity, through progressively structured design, and responsibility, …

The Experience Of Administrative Burdens In Snap And Medicaid: New Evidence From A Nationally Representative Survey Of Low-Wage Workers, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Yung Chun

Center for Social Development Research

When functioning correctly, the U.S. social safety net ensures that everyone can reach a basic standard of living, regardless of economic circumstances, and provides financial support to help families who have fallen on hard times due to job losses or other adverse life events. However, the programs often have complex rules around eligibility, documentation requirements, and compliance. Those features and negative experiences with program staff impose psychological costs—collectively referred to as administrative burdens—that can make enrolling and staying in the programs difficult for many families. Drawing upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Survey of a nationally …

Over 30 Million And Growing: Child Development Accounts Around The World, Li Zou, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This report discusses the global reach and origins of Child Development Account policies, documenting impacts on approximately 32 million children worldwide. The policies range from Singapore’s comprehensive asset-building framework to Kazakhstan’s pioneering National Fund for Children. The seven policies highlighted here represent growing efforts to provide structured and lifelong asset-building across the full population, beginning as early as birth.

This report was updated in January 2026 to correct typographical errors in the monetary figures reported for South Korea.

The Case For Automatic Enrollment In Trump Accounts: Lessons From Maine’S Cda, Margaret Clancy, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In 2014, Maine's statewide Child Development Policy, the My Alfond Grant, transitioned from an opt-in enrollment structure to an automatic one. Written as federal policymakers weigh enrollment options for the new Trump Accounts, this brief highlights lessons from Maine's transition and findings from the the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, offering recommendations for implementing the new federal policy.

A Strategy For Implementing Automatic Enrollment In Trump Accounts, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden, Lissa Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

In the summer of 2025, the United States created the framework for a national asset-building initiative, but the success of the Trump Accounts policy depends in part on effective implementation. This brief pres­ents a two-step strategy for ensuring that all eligible U.S. children will be able to participate in the program. Leveraging existing federal infrastructure to create capacity for automatic enrollment, this strategy would enable the policy to avoid the high costs and low participation rates of programs with opt-in enrollment structures. The operational model would be built on two foundational components: a centralized Trump Accounts Fund and an automated …

Financial Shocks, Emergency Savings, And Hardship Among Low-Wage Workers, Haotian Zheng, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Center for Social Development Research

For many households, particu­larly those with limited income or financial resources, medical emergencies, car repairs, sudden job losses, and unexpected expenses can quickly precipitate financial hardships. Emergency savings provide a buffer that allows households to manage disrup­tions and avoid reliance on options that incur high-interest debt. Addressing the lack of emergency savings is not just a matter of individual responsibility; it also poses a broader policy challenge with implications for public welfare. Drawing upon data from the nationally representative Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey, this brief reports on low-wage households’ experiences with shocks, savings, and hardships. It also discusses …

Public Benefits Cliffs And Asset Limits Harm The Economic Mobility Of Young Adult Workers, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Guangli Zhang

Center for Social Development Research

At its best, the public benefits system in the United States helps families avoid poverty’s most severe effects while also giving them a hand up. But the system also can keep working families in poverty. Workers may want to earn more money, take better jobs, or save for the future, but doing so can raise their income above program limits, causing workers to lose the benefits they and their families need to survive. This is known as the benefits cliff. This brief draws upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey to explore how benefits cliffs and related …

"Check-The-Box" Enrollment Will Limit Participation In Trump Accounts: Lessons From Asset-Building Research, Jin Huang, Margaret M. Clancy, Stephen Roll, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

As the U.S. Treasury Department considers the implementation of Trump Accounts, one proposed enrollment method is a “check-the-box” option on the federal tax return, requiring parents to actively grant permission to open an account. This policy brief draws on evidence from prior research to explain why such a check-the-box opt-in model is very unlikely to achieve full participation in Trump Accounts

Why Automatic Enrollment Is Essential For The Success Of Trump Accounts: Lessons From Seed Ok, Jin Huang, Michael Sherraden, Lissa Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

In this policy brief, prominent Child Development Account (CDA) experts and researchers present the case that automatic enrollment is essential in a nationwide policy to provide CDAs and build assets for all children in the United States. The Center for Social Development (CSD) has designed and rigorously tested this policy concept, and the authors highlight key evidence on ensuring full participation, efficiency, and long-term success of a federal policy.

Buy-Now-Pay-Later And Alternative-Financial-Service Use Among Low-Wage Workers, Somalis Chy, Haotian Zheng, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard

Center for Social Development Research

Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services offer consumers the option of short-term interest-free loans for retail purchases, but the rapid growth of such services has raised concerns about indebtedness and impacts on household financial security. This brief draws upon data from the nationally representative Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey to examine the use of BNPL offerings, the demographics of users, the use of alternative credit products, and differences in BNPL product use by employment status.

Enduring Impacts Of Child Development Accounts: Increased Parental Expectations And College Preparation, Jin Huang, Sicong Sun, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Parental educational expectations exert a substantial influence on children’s educational achievement. Elevated parental expectations can move families to prepare for a child’s education beyond high school, both by intentional planning and financial steps to increase the likelihood of attending higher education. This Research Brief explores findings from a detailed study of long-term positive impacts of Child Development Accounts on parental educational expectations and college preparation. Drawing upon analyses of the pre-COVID data collected in 2020 as part of Wave 3 of the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, the brief highlight effects sustained over 13 years.

A full reporting of the …

What Jobs Offer (And Don’T Offer) Benefits To Low-Wage Workers? Evidence From A Nationally Representative Survey, Laura Brugger, Mathieu Despard, Selina Miller, Stephen Roll

Center for Social Development Research

Employer-based benefits are an important for the financial security and well-being of U.S. workers. These benefits are a key path to healthcare access, retirement security, and other beneficial outcomes. But employers may also offer services that support employees’ financial wellness, and relatively little is known about the extent to which supplemental financial-wellness benefits are offered to low-wage workers or about variation in offerings by industries. Drawing on data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,511 low-wage U.S. workers, this Research Brief presents findings on the types of benefits provided by employers …

Asset Building For All, Starting At Birth: Emergence Of A Federal Policy And A Key Design Lesson, Michael Sherraden, Margaret M. Clancy, Jin Huang, Ray Boshara, Lissa Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

A proposal in the 2025 tax-reconciliation bill would provide federal Child Development Account–like accounts for all children born between 2024 and 2028, with a provision enabling children born in 2028 or after to open accounts. This Policy Brief is designed to inform public debate about the legislation through a discussion of the evidence underpinning the most fundamental of many lessons learned from SEED for Oklahoma Kids, the Center for Social Development’s long-running, randomized experiment with Child Development Account policy: the need for a centralized savings-plan platform.

Financial Facts: Seed Ok Child Development Accounts At Age 17, Jin Huang, Mark Schreiner, Margaret M. Clancy, Sondra G. Beverly, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

The SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment (SEED OK) is a longitudinal, randomized test a statewide Child Development Account (CDA) policy. The essential feature of the CDA in SEED OK is a state-owned Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan account, which was automatically opened for newborns in late 2007 with an initial deposit of $1,000. That sum has grown over time, and this Fact Sheet presents financial outcomes as of December 31, 2024, when children in the experiment were 17 years old.

The Impact Of Benefits Cliffs And Asset Limits On Low-Wage Workers: New Evidence From A Nationally Representative Survey, Stephen Roll, Selina Miller, Mathieu Despard

Center for Social Development Research

Over 40 million workers in the United States receive public benefits. Many face a challenge: They would like to earn higher wages, take on more hours, or accept better jobs, but doing so can push them over benefit-program limits, causing them to lose eligibility or experience reductions in the benefits they need to make ends meet. This is also an issue for employers, whose ability to attract and retain talent is affected when the workforce’s employment decisions are driven by concerns about public benefit eligibility. Drawing on data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) survey administered to a …

Enhancing Diversion Success Through Financial Capability And Asset Building: A Framework And Proposed Intervention, Lissa Johnson, Margaret S. Sherraden, Carrie Pettus, Jude Miller, Jin Huang

Center for Social Development Research

Mass incarceration policies in the United States have generated the highest incarceration rate in the world, yet many incarcerated individuals have committed nonviolent offenses or been confined because they could not pay fines or fees. Diversion offers an opportunity for justice-involved individuals to avoid conviction and collateral consequences while maximizing public safety, reducing case processing, decreasing overpopulation in prisons, and lowering costs. However, diversion programs do not adequately address financial instability and insecurity that often contribute to criminal behavior. This paper reviews evidence on adult diversion programs and proposes an intervention approach responding to socioeconomic factors contributing to criminal behavior.

Matching Student-Debt Payments With Retirement Contributions Has High Appeal For Low-Wage Workers: Implications For Secure 2.0, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Guangli Zhang

Center for Social Development Research

Whether to prioritize paying down student debt now or saving for future retirement is a difficult choice, especially for low-wage workers. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 allows employers to match employees’ qualified student-debt payments with contributions into their retirement plans, essentially allowing the employee to save and invest while paying down debt. This research brief draws upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) survey of a nationally representative sample of vulnerable workers in the United States to examine how such student-loan matching programs affect the retirement savings behaviors of how low-wage workers and how offering these …

Savings Incentives And The Secure 2.0 Act: New Evidence On Employer-Sponsored Emergency Savings Accounts And The Saver’S Match, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Selina Miller

Center for Social Development Research

credit. Analyses drawn upon data from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility Survey, a survey experiment testing the appeal of employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts. The findings indicate that interest in employer-sponsored emergency savings programs is generally high and that, for low-wage workers, offers of matching contributions are more salient than automatic contributions.

IMPLICATIONS for SECURE 2.0 This is the first research brief in a series examining the implications of the SECURE 2.0 Act for the retirement security of low-wage workers in the United States. All briefs in the Implications for SECURE 2.0 series can be found at https://csd.wustl.edu/tag/secure-2.0/

Retirement Plan Access Among Low-Wage Workers In 2024: Implications For Secure 2.0, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Selina Miller

Center for Social Development Research

Households in the United States struggle to save for retirement, and the problem is acute for low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. In 2022, the federal SECURE 2.0 Act created an expansive suite of policy approaches to facilitate saving in LMI households. This brief discusses key provisions of the act and presents findings from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility (WEIM) survey of a nationally representative sample of vulnerable workers in the United States. The findings suggest opportunities to improve upon the SECURE 2.0 Act’s provisions.

Auto-Enrollment, Auto-Escalation, And The Need For Retirement Plan Portability: Implications For Secure 2.0, Stephen Roll, Mathieu Despard, Selina Miller

Center for Social Development Research

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 aims to improve the retirement security of low-income U.S. households by making retirement saving easier, automatic, and more attractive. The act’s provisions focus on employer-sponsored retirement-savings plans. This brief examines how low-wage employees utilize employer-sponsored retirement-plan features, how they say they would respond to automatic contribution increases, and how job transitions impact their retirement savings decisions. Data come from the Workforce Economic Inclusion and Mobility survey, which collects data from a nationally representative sample of vulnerable workers in the United States.

This is the second research brief in a series examining the implications of …

Fossil Fuel Wealth For Human Development: Cdas Continue In Kazakhstan With Second Year Deposits, Aytakin Huseynli, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In January of 2024, Kazakhstan implemented a national Child Development Account (CDA) policy: The National Fund for Children. Through the policy, assets accrue for every child or youth under age 18. This policy brief discusses developments in the operation of the policy and the allocation of funding as of January 2025.

Thirty Productive Years And A Very Promising Future: The Annual Letter Of The Center For Social Development, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

In the 2025 annual letter of the Center for Social Development (CSD), Founding Director Michael Sherrraden discusses the integration of the Washington University Social Policy Institute with CSD, summarizes developments at the center, introduces the new team of experts, shines a light on some of the accomplishments during the past year, and offers a vision for the future.

Universal Asset Building: New Social Policy For A New Era, Michael Sherraden, Jin Huang, Li Zou

Center for Social Development Research

This Perspective explores the concept of universal asset building, beginning with Child Development Account policy, as a new paradigm in social policy, suggesting that it will be a positive social-policy strategy for navigating the information age, and especially artificial intelligence (AI). Universal asset building can address social and economic challenges posed by rapid technological advancements.

The Perspective is adapted from a keynote address given by Michael Sherraden (with Jin Huang and Li Zou) at the joint convening of the 2024 Annual Academic Conference for the Social Policy Research Committee of the Chinese Sociological Association and the 19th International Symposium on …

The National Fund For Children In Kazakhstan, Aytakin Huseynli, Li Zou, Michael Sherraden, Jin Huang

Center for Social Development Research

The government of Kazakhstan officially launched the National Fund for Children, a Child Development Account (CDA) policy, in January 2024. The policy represents a long-term commitment to investing in Kazakhstan’s future generations and to building a new post–fossil fuel economy. This brief documents what has occurred.

Asset-Building Policy And Black Reparations: Effective Delivery And Wealth Accumulation, Trina R. Shanks, Jin Huang, William Elliott, Haotian Zheng, Margaret M. Clancy, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Discussions of reparations focus on who should pay reparations, who should receive them, and how much should be paid, but there is much less consideration of the delivery design. Drawing upon children’s account research, particularly evidence from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, and insights from the implementation of Child Development Account (CDA) policies, this brief summarizes options for delivering reparations, discusses the policy model for delivering CDAs, and elaborates that model’s implications for the structure of a reparations policy.

For a fuller treatment of these matters, see “A Policy Platform to Deliver Black Reparations: Building on Evidence from Child …

Child Savings Accounts And Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts Benefiting American Children: Testimony Before The U.S. Senate Committee On Finance, William Elliott

Center for Social Development Research

This Perspective presents testimony given by Dr. William Elliott during “Child Savings Accounts and Other Tax-Advantaged Accounts Benefiting American Children,” a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, on May 21, 2024. Noting findings from children’s account research―including findings from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment conducted by the Center for Social Development―Dr. Elliott discusses the 401Kids Savings Account Act and the American Opportunity Accounts Act, as well as proposals for Child Savings Accounts, Baby Bonds, Child Development Accounts.

Wealth-Building For All Children: Convergence And Evidence To Support A Nationwide Policy, Jin Huang, Trina R. Shanks, Margaret M. Clancy, William Elliott Iii, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Amid growing concern about wealth inequality in the United States, many policymakers and researchers have come to see early-life wealth-building policies as potential remedies. This brief discusses convergence in the policy community around a shared vision and principles for such policy, and it connects that vision to research. Child Development Account research, much of it conducted through CSD’s SEED for Oklahoma Kids experiment, suggests the parameters for an inclusive, efficient, and effective policy that would express the community’s shared vision.