A novel policy idea is taking hold on both sides of the Atlantic. While traditional anti-poverty efforts have focused on maintaining a social safety net to protect the poor, there is a growing recognition that economic well-being hinges on a household's ability to accumulate a wide range of assets.

The value of assets is based not only on the economic security they provide, but in how they enable people to make productive investments in their future. Assets offer their owners the ability to exert a stake in the broader society -- a stake that income alone cannot provide. It is precisely this type of thinking that has underscored the advent of asset-based welfare policy innovations in the UK. It is also why the introduction of the Child Trust Fund (CTF) -- and related policy programmes -- is being closely watched by those in the US.

Agreement across the US political spectrum

In the US, the interest in asset building has not yet led to any paradigmatic policy shift, but it has attracted an increasing number of diverse supporters across the political and ideological spectrum. In fact, during a period marked by political partisanship it has been noteworthy that a group of cross-party legislators has proposed that the US implement its own accounts-at-birth system -- the America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement and Education Act (ASPIRE). Under this proposal each newborn will be given an account endowed with a one-time $500 (