A Financial Jump Start for CalWorks Recipients

In a recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan noted, “Today’s financial world is highly complex when compared with that of a generation ago. Forty years ago, a simple understanding of how to maintain a checking and savings account, at local banks and savings institutions may have been sufficient. Now, consumers must be able to differentiate between a wide range of financial products and services, and providers of those products and services.” While the population as a whole generally lacks the financial education needed to make good decisions, this problem can hit low-income Americans the hardest. Not only are low-income families more likely to lack access to a bank account, they are also the most vulnerable to abusive lending practices. Therefore, financial education should be targeted to low-income families receiving assistance in the CalWORKs program.