Saving Promises
A Review of Proposals by Presidential Candidates to Promote Savings and Asset Building December 19, 2007 Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini Reid Cramer Rourke OBrien For the first time since 1952, the absence...
View ArticleThe Assets Report 2008
A Review, Assessment, and Forecast of Federal Assets Policy March 12, 2008 Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini Reid Cramer Rourke OBrien The purpose of this annual report is to summarize and take stock of the...
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Three Buses and a Two-Mile Walk to the Welfare Office...
Imagine you are an unemployed single mother of two. In an effort to feed your kids-and keep a roof over your heads-you drive your ten year old beat-up Honda accord down to the local department of...
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A Different Kind of Universal Coverage
A bill recently introduced in Sacramento, and supported by Governor Schwarzenegger, has the potential to cover almost every California worker. No longer will those unlucky enough to work for an...
View ArticleAn (Almost!) Victory for Asset Limit Reform
Breaking news -- Asset limits to be reformed in the Food Stamp Program! The conference committee formed to work out differences in the House and Senate versions of the 2007 Farm Bill has included...
View ArticleLATimes Supports New America's Retirement Bill
The Los Angeles Times published an editorial today in support of Assemblyman Kevin de Leon's plan to provide workers who are not eligibile to participate in an employer sponsored plan access to a safe...
View ArticleGolden Dream Accounts
A Proposal To Expand Worker Access To Retirement Savings Accounts In California May 14, 2008 Rourke OBrien As the percentage of workers covered by traditional employer pension plans has plummeted in...
View ArticleWheels Versus Welfare
June 19, 2008 Rourke OBrien June 19, 2008 With falling home prices, rising food and fuel costs and an unemployment rate well above the national average, the current economic downturn may push already...
View ArticleWheels versus Welfare
Today the LATimes published an article I wrote on the need to exclude cars from consideration when determining a family's eligibility for public assistance (for Ladder followers this should sound...
View ArticlePaying City Students Is a Wise Investment
June 27, 2008 Rourke OBrien June 27, 2008 Summer has arrived in Baltimore, and so has summer school -- bringing with it a chance for students who improve on their High School Assessment exams to...
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The Assets Agenda
Policy Options to Promote Savings and Asset Ownership by Low- and Moderate-Income Americans September 3, 2008 Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini Reid Cramer Rourke OBrien The current economic downturn,...
View ArticleHow to Encourage Families to Save for College
September 25, 2008 Rourke OBrien September 25, 2008 This month, as parents of college-age students sign promissory notes for student loans and watch tuition checks diminish their bank accounts,...
View ArticleDixieland Blues
April 15, 2009 Rourke OBrien Katherine Newman April 15, 2009 Governors across the country are clamoring for a piece of the stimulus, eager to avoid laying off state employees, hoping to put their...
View ArticleFive Low-Cost Federal Policy Ideas to Help Families Save for College
April 29, 2009 David Newville Rourke OBrien Margaret Clancy, Policy Director, Center for Social Development The Potential of 529 College Savings Plans At a time when low-income students are...
View ArticleSelf-Sufficiency Stalled
June 13, 2009 Rourke OBrien David Pedulla, Princeton University June 13, 2009 Given the demonstrated link between transportation and employment, wouldn’t it be counterproductive to force families to...
View ArticleAfter Oppenheimer: Improving College Savings Plans
September 8, 2009 David Newville Rourke OBrien September 8, 2009 After their children's college savings accounts lost 38 percent of their value last year, some Illinois parents might be seeing some...
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529s and Public Assistance
Asset Limits as a Barrier to College Savings November 10, 2009 Rourke OBrien 529s are tax-advantaged accounts designed to help families save for post-secondary education. In recent years, state...
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A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned
Advancing Economic Mobility Through Savings November 24, 2009 Reid Cramer Rourke OBrien Daniel Cooper (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston), Maria Luengo-Prado (Northeastern University) As the saying goes,...
View ArticleA Fair Alternative to Predatory Short-Term Loans
June 30, 2010 Rourke OBrien June 30, 2010 Many hard-working people need access to short-term credit in a pinch to cover the cost of an emergency room visit or replacing a busted stove or carburetor....
View ArticleBeyond the Poverty Line
Fall 2010 The way the United States determines who is poor and who is not—a measure based solely on the cost of food—is broken. a new approach is needed, one that measures poverty through multiple...
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