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Asset Building
Why Municipal Leaders Make Asset Building Initiatives a City Priority
Today, many low-income families have no financial reserves to draw upon in the event of job loss, serious accident or illness, or other personal crises. Nearly one in five American households owes more than it owns. Even modest financial assets can enhance the economic security of low-income families. In turn, savings, homeownership, and access to mainstream financial services promote family and neighborhood stability, educational attainment, and civic participation.
What Municipal Leaders Can Do to Help Families Build Assets
City officials can help local residents build financial assets in at least four ways:
- Promoting financial education;
- Supporting homeownership counseling and incentives;
- Developing asset accumulation strategies (e.g., through savings campaigns and Individual Development Account programs); and
- Sponsoring and/or brokering asset protection measures to help families avoid predatory lending and other "wealth-stripping" practices.
In addition, cities can partner with financial institutions to connect low-income residents with mainstream financial services, helping them avoid high-cost check-cashing services.
Goals of the YEF Institute's Family Economic Success Programs
The goal of the YEF Institute's family economic success program is to strengthen municipal leaders capacity to help low- and moderate-income families achieve financial stability. The Institute supports city leaders' efforts by helping them:
- Learn how other cities have conducted Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) outreach campaigns and volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) sites;
- Connect families with other public benefits by screening their eligibility for food stamps and state children's health insurance;
- Link efforts to help families access public benefits to broader asset-building initiatives that help families save for the futures; and
- Developing transitional jobs programs that help residents overcome barriers to employment through temporary, publicly-subsidized jobs that facilitate the transition into the private workforce.
Family Economic Success Staff Contacts
Heidi Goldberg, Program Director: 202-626-3069 or goldberg@nlc.org
Sarah Bainton Kahn, Program Associate, 202-626-3044 or bainton@nlc.org
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