click to return to the Institute on Assets and Social Policy homepage Informing policies and practices that broaden wealth, reduce inequality, and improve the social and economic well-being of American households.

IASP Events

Working Together to Build Wealth in Lower-Income Communities

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Massachusetts - December 3, 2007

The Institute on Assets and Social Policy partnered with the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council and nine other organizations to sponsor a forum on strategies to expand access to financial services, financial education and asset development. Nearly 75 representatives from financial institutions, public officials, community organization directors, and academic researchers gathered to gain a better understanding of the financial difficulties encountered by lower income families and the services and policies that can make a difference. New approaches to program delivery and collaborative program models were presented.

Panelists' presentations stimulated discussion on barriers to the use of mainstream banking products and services and factors that increase the effectiveness of financial education and matched savings programs. Sandra Venner, Program Director at the Institute, provided a panel presentation citing the preliminary results of surveys of EITC recipients and financial education participants to illustrate how these program impact financial status and behavior. This research is being conducted for the MASSCAP Asset Formation Initiative.

Thomas Shapiro, Director of the Institute, delivered the luncheon keynote address, Are Financial Assets All You Need? Professor Shapiro stated that to the extent that there is a policy agenda for upward mobility into American's middle class today, it is happening in the asset arena. It builds on a long history of policies supporting education and homeownership, but there remain lingering wealth inequalities, especially along racial lines. It includes a mobility agenda that provides tools to get ahead such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). But there is also a transformative agenda to create new institutions, products, resources, and policies to change the structure under which opportunity is made available. Professor Shapiro noted that while federal funding has provided $200 million for IDAs, $367 billion annually is shielded from taxes for the middle and upper income, primarily in the form of home mortgage deductions and retirement savings plans.

Building on the high interest expressed at the forum, Massachusetts Community & Banking Council will examine the possibility of co-sponsoring future events to provide updates of activities across the state and create opportunities for networking and forming new relationships. Ongoing opportunities for nurturing further collaboration between community groups and financial institutions are available through initiative such as FDIC's Boston Alliance for Economic Inclusion and the newly forming state Asset Development Commission.

Massachusetts Community & Banking Council has produced a report of forum proceedings: www.masscommunityandbanking.org/PDFs/WorkingTogether.pdf.