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“Helping Low Income Families Build Assets”
Remarks by Carmen R. Nazario
Assistant Secretary for Children and Families
US Department of Health and Human Services
Second Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities
of Social Development
July 8-9, 2010
Cali, Colombia
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Definition of Asset Building:
“Engaging in long-term saving and investment
behavior to increase economic independence”
Fundamental premise that underlies asset-building is
that income supports alone may not be enough to
enable a family to become economically selfsufficient over the long-term
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Partnerships with
State and Local Governments,
non-governmental organizations,
and private sector
are critical to success of asset-building
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• Components of Asset Building in the US
• Asset-Building Strategies under way in the US
• Research and Evaluation in the field
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Key Components of Asset Building in US
Financial Literacy education and training
– Need information and skills to make good decisions regarding:
how to do a monthly budget, how to save for purchase of home,
for university education, or for start-up or expansion of small
business
Access to Mainstream Financial Services, i.e.
banks, credit unions
– Families that use banks, and credit unions, are more successful
at planning and saving.
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Key components of Asset Building in US
Credit and Debt Counseling
Information on how to manage money, i.e. how to pay off credit
card debt, how to borrow wisely and how to pay back loans
Access to Matched Savings Accounts called
Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
Definition: A savings Account for lower income individuals used
for a specific purpose such as education, purchasing a first
home, or starting or expanding a business.
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Asset-Building Strategies Underway
in the US
The Federal Government is leading some aspects of
the work on asset building strategies, and state and
local governments and private foundations are taking
the lead in others.
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Research on Asset-Building
in the United States
Asset-building and Individual Development Account
policies have been supported and partially driven by
positive research findings about their effectiveness as
poverty-alleviation strategies
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Resources
•
HHS Administration for Children and Families http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/afi/index.html
•
CFED - http://www.cfed.org
•
Center for Social Development, American Dream Demonstration
http://csd.wustl.edu/pages/default.aspx &
http://csd.wustl.edu/AssetBuilding/Pages/AmericanDreamDemonstrat
ion.aspx
•
New America Foundation – http://www.newamerica.net
•
Assets for Independence Resource Center – http://idaresources.org
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