Jamie M. Zimmerman: All Publications, Events and Press

Live Chat: Savings as a Path Out of Poverty, Tuesday at Noon ET | New America/Politico

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:12:00 -0400

In this week's New America/Politico Live Chat, Jamie M. Zimmerman, New America's deputy director of the Global Assets Project, will be taking questions at ...

Savings as a Tool for International Development

Kirsten Gilbert — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/15/2009 - 12:15pm

Can savings-led programs ensure poverty reduction? Preliminary results from World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) MatchSavings.org program in Mexico, where online donations are used to match the first savings accounts of the poor,

The New America Foundation and Columbia University Receive Grant to Launch Child Development Account Policy Pilot in Niger Delta

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:49:00 -0400

The Bayelsa State Government located in the delta region of Nigeria awarded Columbia University and the New America Foundation's Global Assets Project a grant to design and launch a child development account (CDA) pilot, which will test the impact of matched savings accounts for children in low-income households. This

Promoting Savings as a Tool for International Development

Asset Building — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:13:00 -0400

Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners of microfinance are increasingly turning their focus toward devising and offering effective and accessible savings services for the poor. Not only have experts argued that demand for savings services greatly exceeds that of microcredit, but many also contend that savings-led programs and products, with a focus on building assets, may be more effective than credit in providing a pathway out of poverty.

New America Foundation part of Global Consortium to Plan Pilot Program for Savings Accounts for Young People in Developing World

Communications — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:29:00 -0400

Washington D.C.--The Global Assets Project announced today its role in a global consortium to begin the exploration of savings products for young people in the developing world. The consortium, led by Save the Children, received funding from the MasterCard Foundation.

PODCAST: A New Approach to Global Poverty Reduction-- Savings-Linked CCTs

Kate Schuler — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:39:00 -0400

Gateways to Global Poverty Reduction and Financial Inclusion

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:12:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/29/2009 - 9:30am

The Battle for the Soul of South Africa

Stephanie Gunter — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/22/2009 - 9:00am

Savings-Linked Conditional Cash Transfers

Asset Building — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 04:18:00 -0400

ABSTRACT: This policy brief makes the case for linking conditional cash transfers to savings as a two-pronged poverty reduction strategy of supplementing income and building productive assets, while increasing effective financial inclusion of a given population. While conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs and policies have proven effective in achieving certain poverty alleviation goals, such as better health and education, only recently have we begun to explore the potential of CCTs to enhance economic inclusion and poverty reduction through wealth accumulation.

What the Poor Can Teach the Rich at G-20

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:15:00 -0400

This week's G-20 summit is essentially an echo chamber for the world's wealthy to talk macrofinance. The world economy might rebound more quickly if they listen to what the poor have to say about microfinance.

Savings and Asset Building

Asset Building — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:18:00 -0400

Presentation at the Asia Microfinance Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Child Savings Accounts: A Primer

Asset Building — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:28:00 -0400

Executive Summary

Poverty reduction strategies increasingly focus on the importance of creating financial assets. Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) are a novel and promising tool that builds on that focus by promoting savings starting at a young age. Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) exist as policies, products, and programs, and are being offered by governments, financial institutions, and non-profits for a variety of purposes.

Child Savings Accounts: Global Trends in Design and Practice

Asset Building — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:11:00 -0400

INTRODUCTION

Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) exist as policies, products, and programs, and are currently being offered by governments, financial institutions, and non-profits. CSAs are more than basic savings accounts. What distinguishes CSAs from standard savings accounts is the degree to which they serve as means to an end-most often to spur the social and/or economic development of children. Another distinguishing feature is they are often intentionally targeted to children of low- and moderate-income families (as opposed to only children of middle-class and well-off families).

The concept behind CSAs is based on the premise that saving is an important way for an individual to build assets and accumulate the wealth necessary to meet a variety of needs throughout one's lifetime. Households can use savings to build a nest egg for future investments, and in the shorter term to build a stock of resources to cushion against economic shocks (such as sickness, famine, natural disaster, or death of a family member). Such a cushion can forestall the need for households to sell off productive assets (such as equipment used to run a small business), or withdraw their children from school (more common within developing countries). Savings can also have positive long-term effects, known as "asset effects." These include adopting a more hopeful outlook on the future, or what researchers refer to as a "future orientation."[1] As a result, savings products, policies, and programs that are specifically designed to facilitate a child's accumulation of assets at an early age are increasingly considered a viable option for motivating young people to enter formal financial systems, build assets in their youth and throughout their adult lives, and ultimately lead to economic and social advancement for themselves and their families.

There is no universal model for CSAs. The design of CSAs can vary widely, from simple, low-cost savings products offered by financial institutions, to universal, life-long savings platforms with significant financial incentives offered by governments. Variations in CSA design depend largely on the type of institution offering them, and the institution's purposes for doing so. For example, a financial institution may offer a CSA product intended to cultivate new clients or help children develop a habit of savings; a non-profit may establish a CSA program intended to protect children from future economic shocks, help children build a stock of resources for future investments, or enable children greater access to education and healthcare; and a government may design a CSA policy intended to reduce poverty of children and their families, expand opportunity to the disadvantaged, or promote overall development within a society. However, while some purposes of CSAs are unique to particular types of institutions, there are also often instances of overlap in purpose and hence similarity in design.

CSA Typology: Products, Programs, and Policies

? CSA Product-This type of CSA is typically offered by financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, or microfinance institutions. It may have features such as a low initial deposit and in-kind incentives, such as a mug or school bag, for achieving certain balances.

? CSA Program-This type of CSA is typically offered by institutions such as non-profits and research organizations attempting to test impacts of CSAs on health, educational, and other outcomes. It may have features such as those mentioned above, as well as features such as significant financial incentives (i.e. a lump sum of "seed" money when the account is first opened and/or "matches" to deposits made by the family of the accountholder or the child him/herself.

? CSA Policy -This type of CSA is typically implemented by governments, both local and national. It may have features such as those mentioned above, as well as features such as being progressive (i.e. giving more financial support to those more in need) and/or being universal (i.e. being offered to every newborn or child in a locality).

This paper aims to augment the limited existing literature and research on CSAs by providing an overview of the current global landscape of CSAs in their various forms. By describing and briefly assessing some of the reasons why institutions offer CSAs and the range of features that can constitute their design, we aim to broaden understanding of these accounts in their various forms. Furthermore, we hope to illustrate some global trends in child savings accounts. For example, our examination of the current breadth of CSAs illustrates their perceived potential as a flexible and effective tool in the fields of social policy, philanthropy, and financial services. While the goal of this paper is not to advocate CSAs along these lines, we argue that they warrant further attention and examination.

The paper begins with an introduction containing an overview of CSAs and some notes on the research methodology we used for data collection. It then provides a description and analysis of common features and purposes of CSAs in their variety of forms and purposes, while providing related anecdotes and insights from our research that inform our views. The paper concludes with a discussion of a few major obstacles faced by existing and potential providers of CSAs. An Appendix at the end of this paper offers a comparison of features of and rationales for various CSA products, programs, and policies in operation around the world.

[1] For an introduction to the concept of "asset effects," see: Michael Sherraden, "Key Questions in Asset Building Research," Center for Social Development, 1999, at http://gwbweb.wustl.edu/csd/asset/keyquestions.htm (accessed June 10, 2008). For an example of a study showing effects of holding assets on health attitudes and educational plans, see: Fred M. Ssewamala et al. "A Novel Economic Intervention to Reduce HIV Risks Among School-Going AIDS Orphans in Rural Uganda," Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 2008, pp.102-104.

Global Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion

Asset Building — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:14:00 -0400

Foreword

In 2000, 196 Member States of the United Nations committed themselves to halve extreme poverty in the world by the year 2015. Since then, broad availability of well-designed and appropriately delivered financial services and products, including those that lead to savings and productive assets, has become increasingly recognized as essential to alleviating poverty and fostering economic security and opportunity. Yet eight years later (and with less than eight years remaining to reach this goal), some three billion people worldwide lack access to basic financial services. Much remains to be done.

For three days in June 2007, the Global Assets Project (a joint venture of Center for Social Development at Washington University and the Asset Building Program of the New America Foundation), the National University of Singapore, and the Financial Access Initiative of New York University convened 100 leaders from diverse fields at a Global Symposium on Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion. Sponsored by the Citi, Levi Strauss, and F.B. Heron Foundations, the purpose of this first-of-its-kind symposium was to illuminate and inform strategies for universal inclusion in savings and asset-building products, programs, and policies around the world. We paid particular attention to the needs of people with limited resources in developed and, especially, developing countries.

At the Symposium and throughout this document, we commonly use the term "asset building" to refer to efforts to build savings and productive assets, including education, homeownership, land, small businesses, livestock, investments, and pensions. While this term has become commonplace in some countries and fields, there are now a variety of terms - including asset accumulation, asset development, wealth building, etc. - used internationally to describe the concept and efforts emerging from it.

The symposium was organized around three goals. First, we wanted to harness the experience and brainpower of leading practitioners, scholars, policymakers, advocates, corporate leaders, and funders. The idea of asset building has emerged as a major theme in many parts of the world, but this is a relatively young discussion with theory, evidence, policies, and products developing in uneven, often haphazard ways. In bringing together many of the key persons leading this work, we sought to provide some coherence and structure to this emerging field and to capture the lessons and best thinking worldwide. Second, we hoped symposium discussions and results would inform future directions in participants' diverse but overlapping fields. Finally, we aimed to build bridges between the leaders in the savings, assets, and financial inclusion fields, so that they, along with us, could advance savings, asset-building, and financial inclusion efforts around the world.

As an organizing team, we chose an unconventional symposium format - one that eschewed PowerPoint presentations and long speeches by just a few people. Instead, we gave a broad range of leaders from around the world an active role. This report provides a glimpse into the wealth of information - trends, insights, lessons, and challenges - provided so candidly and generously by our participants at the symposium in Singapore. The report also includes possible next steps that symposium participants and the rest of the diverse range of actors working within these fields should take to move this emerging body of work forward.

Introduction

There is a growing consensus that all people in the world - the poor as well as the rich, people from all countries, people from all backgrounds and characteristics - should be included in saving and asset-building opportunities. The reasons for this growing consensus are both moral and practical. The moral reasoning is that people should have a fair chance, an opportunity to develop their capacities to lead a stable and satisfying life. The practical reasoning is that we, as individuals, communities, and societies, are all better off when people accumulate assets, invest in themselves and their children, and become more productive and engaged in society and the global economy.

While increasing income that helps the poor to get by day-to-day is important, it is often not enough to pull them out of poverty. Individuals and families typically get ahead by accumulating small surpluses of savings and assets with which they make small investments that increase their economic well-being. Accumulating assets has many positive economic and social development outcomes for families, communities, and nations. For families, holding assets provides a way to smooth consumption, provides stability in the event of unforeseen costs and income fluctuations, and serves as a stock of resources to invest for increased future income and long-term development. It is primarily through accumulating and investing assets - in education, homes, enterprise, etc. - that individuals and families do better over the long-term. This is especially true across generations.

Multiple strategies for asset accumulation are possible, although saving typically plays a central role. Public policies, financial products, and related services play important roles in supporting efforts of poor households to save and grow their wealth. Around the world, policies that encourage saving, specialized savings services, tailored loan products, innovative insurance policies, and secure money transfer systems offer poor and low-income people an opportunity to change the economic outlook for their children, their families, and their communities. In particular, more governments are evaluating the benefits of asset-building policy as a way to promote wealth creation for their citizens.

All of this may seem like a well-worn and rather obvious understanding, but savings and asset building have often been underemphasized in economic and social development. This is underscored when looking at the massive global wealth inequality, not only between nations, but within them. A groundbreaking UNU-WIDER study on the World Distribution of Household Wealth has found that approximately half the world's population owns only about one percent of the world's wealth. Moreover, policies in many countries exacerbate these disparities. Welfare systems in many developed countries penalize asset accumulation. Around the world, underdeveloped financial and regulatory systems make financial services inaccessible, either by distance or cost, to the majority of the population. Indeed, only a fraction of the world's population is included in the formal financial system at all. By preventing the poor from accumulating assets, these policies and systems present a major impediment to economic and social advancement.

If we address such inequalities through the underlying philosophy that everyone ought to be included and receive similar life opportunities, then access to public subsidies and financial services should also be equitable and not neglectful of people at the bottom of the economic strata. As demonstrated throughout the symposium, efforts to increase financial inclusion and opportunities for asset building are proliferating around the world. It is through creativity and innovation in these two fields - and their increasing cross-fertilization - that we will find new solutions with the potential of reversing past exclusions.

Following the Introduction, this Report contains the following sections:

Emerging Trends in Asset Building and Financial Inclusion
Key Lessons: Policies, Services, and Products for Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion
Key Challenges to Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion
Next Steps Toward Global Asset Building and Financial Inclusion
Conclusion
Appendices

Can Online Investing End Poverty?

Communications — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
03/19/2008 - 4:00pm

"Invest Wisely. End Poverty." This is the goal of eBay's new online microfinance investment marketplace, MicroPlace. While online microlending has been growing more popular with peer-to-peer offerings such as the non-profit Kiva.org, MicroPlace is charting a whole new course in the microfinance industry, offering socially-minded Americans a new way to offer microloans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. As the only broker-dealer in the microfinance arena, MicroPlace is the first and only online service offering… more

In Care of Nigeria's Poor

Communications — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

A New America Event
02/01/2008 - 10:00am

Last year, Nigeria's newly-elected president set forth a seven-step agenda to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and turn Nigeria into a top-20 industrialized nation by 2020. But this will be no easy task. Nigeria's wealth inequality is among the worst in Africa - a situation illustrated by the contrast between the nation's substantial oil wealth and a poverty rate of around 50%. Nigeria's National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) responded to this challenge in December 2007 by launching… more

Jamie Zimmerman in Globe and Mail | 'Trade Deal for Colombian Rights'

Communications — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:53:00 -0500

A trade deal is good for Colombian human rights (The Globe and Mail - Canada) Studies suggest increased trade may help improve human- and labour-rights deficiencies. In their recent book Trade Imbalance: The Struggle to Weigh Human Rights concerns in Trade Poliymaking (link), Susan Aaronson and Jamie Zimmerman argue that increased trade brings about increased "integrity rights," such as freedom from arbitrary imprisonment, torture and killings. ...

Trade Imbalance

adminn — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:04:00 -0400

Trade is controversial; around the world many people believe that trade agreements, even trade per se, undermines particular human rights such as labor rights or access to affordable medicine (the right to health). But trade and trade agreements can also advance human rights, directly or indirectly. In fact, some countries use trade policies to advance specific human rights such as labor rights or property rights.

Nonetheless, policymakers struggle to achieve both goals because:

The global economic environment is increasingly complex Human… more

Trade Imbalance

Communications — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 07:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/05/2007 - 12:15pm

In the coming months, the U.S. Congress will vote up or down on trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Korea. These elected officials will not examine these agreements solely on their commercial or foreign policy benefits to the American people. They will also weigh whether or not each agreement advances particular human rights abroad. However, these Representatives proceed with little information about how trade agreements, and even trade per se, affect human rights at home or abroad. Although… more