Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion

The Role of Children's Savings Accounts in the Economic, Social, and Political Context

November 9-11, 2016

The Children’s Savings Account (CSA) field is at a critical moment. Propelled by growing concern about the effects of student indebtedness and the declining fortunes of American households, policymakers at the municipal, state, and federal levels are increasingly turning to CSAs as a mechanism to improve educational attainment, close achievement gaps, and provide an asset foundation for later prosperity. Mounting evidence supports CSAs as a tool with which to strengthen families’ expectations, bridge access to a range of postsecondary options, and build lifelong habits of saving and makes it ever more imperative that policy deliver asset ownership to all American children.

To bring key field leaders together to take stock of the current knowledge base, frame the most pressing questions to drive future inquiry, and coalesce around strategies to advance CSA policy as a transformative investment in economic mobility, the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion (AEDI) will host a symposium November 10-11, 2016. The agenda for the event will include keynote presentations that frame CSAs as tools for critical wealth transfers and as mechanisms of financial inclusion and aids to educational achievement. The estimated 125 participants—researchers, program administrators, educators, policymakers, advocates, and funders—will feature representatives from programs around the country, examine research findings, consider CSAs’ role in the economic and political landscapes, and contemplate implications of different CSA models. Attendees have been invited to assemble the best possible symposium.

View the Agenda

We would like to thank the Kaufmann Foundation, Citi Foundation, Lumina Foundation and 1 to 1 Fund for their financial support to make this event possible.