To Save, or Not to Save?

As Americans need to, and are expected to, save more for their futures, millions of low-income Americans are hearing two conflicting messages from their government: Save, and don’t save. Over the last decade a consensus has been emerging among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners around the importance of enabling low-income persons to save and build wealth, and state and federal programs have emerged to do just that. Yet, with limited exceptions, the rules of our nation’s public assistance programs aimed at such persons -- Food Stamps, Medicaid, and TANF, for example -- send the exact opposite message: Don’t save.

The continued use of asset limits in determining eligibility is currently under debate in states across the country. Recent reforms in California, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and other states demonstrate a real interest to reexamine these rules among both policymakers and welfare administrators. Interest is growing at the federal level as well, in particular around retirement savings and in connection with the Food Stamp program.

Video of this roundtable discussion, which focused on opportunities to work together to reform asset limits at the state and federal levels, is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below.

See map: Google Maps

Participants

• Amy Ellen Duke
  Senior Policy Analyst
  Center for Law and Social Policy
• Leslie Parrish
  Senior Policy Analyst
  New America Foundation
• Dory Rand
  Supervising Attorney, Community Investment
  Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Rourke O'Brien
  Policy Analyst
  New America Foundation

Agenda

12:00 -12:15 pm Lunch

12:15-1:00 pm Featured Speakers

1:00-2:00 pm Roundtable Discussion