IDAs & Asset Building

"Broadening IDAs and asset-building strategies that fight poverty is necessary to provide hope for the roughly 50% of households with less than $1,000 in net financial assets."

Assets change lives. Assets provide families with stability and protection against the unexpected. And increasing evidence shows that assets are associated with economic household stability, decreased economic strain on households, increased property values, decreased residential mobility, and increased property maintenance. (Scanlon & Adams)

IDAs and asset-building strategies are powerful opportunities that allow working families to invest in themselves, their children, and their communities. Broadening IDAs and asset-building strategies that fight poverty is necessary to provide hope for the roughly 50% of households with less than $1,000 in net financial assets and the 60% of African-American households with zero or negative financial assets.

Research from the American Dream Demonstration (ADD), a 14-site, privately funded demonstration organized by CFED and CSD, provides concrete data that the poor can save. During the four-year demonstration, 2,364 accountholders saved and deposited a net average of $548. And, 88% of the accountholders had incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line. Yet at the end of the demonstration, cumulative gross deposits by all participants reached over $2.5 million.

Today IDA holders throughout the world invest in their futures through the support of publicly and privately funded IDA programs. And IDAs and asset-building opportunities continue to reach more low-income individuals thanks to the dedicated efforts of practitioners, funders, policymakers, and accountholders themselves. The foundation is set. As the IDA and asset-building field enters its second decade, asset leaders are well-positioned to reach millions of individuals and families with progressive and universal asset-building opportunities.