IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/povpop/v6y2014i1p46-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Savings From Ages 16 to 35: A Test to Inform Child Development Account Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Terri Friedline
  • Ilsung Nam

Abstract

This study examines savings from childhood to young adulthood with a sample of 14,223 individuals from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). We employed a cohort sequential accelerated latent growth model that combined a series of cohorts to represent a common developmental trajectory spanning 19 years—ages 16–35—and accounted for relevant covariates. Descriptively, the proportions of savings account ownership increased steadily between ages 16 and 30 and then leveled off. In other words, a critical time for intervention may occur between ages 16 and 30 when the proportion of account ownership is increasing. Proportions of savings accumulation also rose steadily, with a mean low of $636 between ages 16 and 20 to a mean high of $1,160 between ages 31 and 35. Gender, race, employment status, and household income and net worth were associated with initial variability in savings at ages 16–20 and rate of change in savings over time through age 35. Results can inform policies and programs that open savings accounts for children as a way of helping them remain financially secure across their life course.

Suggested Citation

  • Terri Friedline & Ilsung Nam, 2014. "Savings From Ages 16 to 35: A Test to Inform Child Development Account Policy," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 46-70, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:povpop:v:6:y:2014:i:1:p:46-70
    DOI: 10.1002/pop4.59
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pop4.59
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pop4.59?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William R. Emmons & Bryan J. Noeth, 2013. "Why did young families lose so much wealth during the crisis? the role of homeownership," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jan, pages 1-26.
    2. Erik Hurst & James P. Ziliak, 2006. "Do Welfare Asset Limits Affect Household Saving?: Evidence from Welfare Reform," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 41(1).
    3. Yunju Nam, 2008. "Welfare Reform and Asset Accumulation: Asset Limit Changes, Financial Assets, and Vehicle Ownership," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(1), pages 133-154, March.
    4. Cramer, Reid, 2010. "The big lift: Federal policy efforts to create Child Development Accounts," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1538-1543, November.
    5. Yunju Nam & Youngmi Kim & Margaret Clancy & Robert Zager & Michael Sherraden, 2013. "Do Child Development Accounts Promote Account Holding, Saving, and Asset Accumulation for Children's Future? Evidence from a Statewide Randomized Experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 6-33, January.
    6. Jesse Bricker & Arthur B. Kennickell & Kevin B. Moore & John Edward Sabelhaus, 2012. "Changes in U.S. family finances from 2007 to 2010: evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 98(June), June.
    7. Pence Karen M., 2006. "The Role of Wealth Transformations: An Application to Estimating the Effect of Tax Incentives on Saving," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, July.
    8. Jesse Bricker & Arthur B. Kennickell & Kevin B. Moore & John Edward Sabelhaus, 2012. "Changes in U.S. family finances from 2007 to 2010: evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 98(June), pages 1-80.
    9. Friedline, Terri & Elliott, William, 2013. "Connections with banking institutions and diverse asset portfolios in young adulthood: Children as potential future investors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 994-1006.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Terri Friedline & Stacia West, 2016. "Financial Education is not Enough: Millennials May Need Financial Capability to Demonstrate Healthier Financial Behaviors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 649-671, December.
    2. Bucciol, Alessandro & Veronesi, Marcella, 2014. "Teaching children to save: What is the best strategy for lifetime savings?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-17.
    3. Yilmazer, Tansel & Babiarz, Patryk & Liu, Fen, 2015. "The impact of diminished housing wealth on health in the United States: Evidence from the Great Recession," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 234-241.
    4. Dunn, Lucia & Olsen, Randall, 2014. "US household real net worth through the Great Recession and beyond: Have we recovered?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 272-275.
    5. Friedline, Terri & Elliott, William, 2013. "Connections with banking institutions and diverse asset portfolios in young adulthood: Children as potential future investors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 994-1006.
    6. Zhan, Min & Xiang, Xiaoling & Elliott, William, 2016. "Education loans and wealth building among young adults," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 67-75.
    7. Zhan, Min & Xiang, Xiaoling, 2018. "Education loans and asset building among black and Hispanic young adults," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 121-127.
    8. Elliott, William & Rauscher, Emily & Nam, Ilsung, 2018. "Unequal returns: Intragenerational asset accumulation differs by net worth in early adulthood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 253-263.
    9. Benítez-Silva, Hugo & Eren, Selçuk & Heiland, Frank & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi, 2015. "How well do individuals predict the selling prices of their homes?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 12-25.
    10. Bricker, Jesse & Bucks, Brian, 2016. "Negative home equity, economic insecurity, and household mobility over the Great Recession," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Giordana, Gastón & Ziegelmeyer, Michael, 2020. "Stress testing household balance sheets in Luxembourg," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 115-138.
    12. Doerrenberg, Philipp & Duncan, Denvil & Zeppenfeld, Christopher, 2015. "Circumstantial risk: Impact of future tax evasion and labor supply opportunities on risk exposure," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 85-100.
    13. Schmidt, Tobias & Alik-Lagrange, Arthur, 2016. "The Pattern of Home Ownership Across Age Cohorts and its Impact on the German Net Wealth Distribution," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145604, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Leah Hamilton, 2021. "Asset Limits in Public Assistance and Savings Behavior Among Low‐Income Families," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(1), pages 454-467, January.
    15. Terri Friedline & Mary Rauktis, 2014. "Young People Are the Front Lines of Financial Inclusion: A Review of 45 Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 535-602, October.
    16. Goodstein, Ryan M. & Rhine, Sherrie L.W., 2017. "The effects of bank and nonbank provider locations on household use of financial transaction services," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 91-107.
    17. Lewis, Melinda & Cramer, Reid & Elliott, William & Sprague, Aleta, 2014. "Policies to promote economic stability, asset building, and child development," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 15-21.
    18. Lorien Rice & Cynthia Bansak, 2014. "The Effect Of Welfare Asset Rules On Auto Ownership, Employment, And Welfare Participation: A Longitudinal Analysis," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(2), pages 306-333, April.
    19. Graff, Michelle & Pirog, Maureen, 2019. "Red tape is not so hot: Asset tests impact participation in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 749-764.
    20. Terri Friedline & Ilsung Nam & Vernon Loke, 2014. "Households’ Net Worth Accumulation Patterns and Young Adults’ Financial Health: Ripple Effects of the Great Recession?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 390-410, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:povpop:v:6:y:2014:i:1:p:46-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1944-2858 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.