Asset Building News and Information ____________________________________________________
United Nations to Launch International Year of Cooperatives 2012
United Nations United Nations will launch the International Year of Cooperatives at the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday, October 31st, 2011. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, highlighting the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, in particular recognizing their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. Goals of the International Year of Cooperatives
- Increase public awareness about cooperatives and their contributions to socio-economic development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
- Promote the formation and growth of cooperatives
- Encourage Governments to establish policies, laws and regulations conducive to the formation, growth and stability of cooperatives
Learn more about the United Nations and the International Year of Cooperatives.
________________________________ Dodd-Frank A Year Later: Has Financial Reform Made Us Safer Yet?The Brookings Institution Douglas J. Elliott, Fellow, Economic Studies, Initiative on Business and Public Policy July 19th, 2011 Last July, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, the most far-reaching reform of financial regulation in this country since the Great Depression. A year later, I am often asked if we are any safer now. The short answer is: not much at this point, but we will be. Some helpful reforms have already been implemented, however it will take longer for the most important changes to be put into place through binding rules.
Read entire blog post here. Learn more about the Brookings Institution. __________________________________________ Taking Asset Building and Earnings Incentives to Scale in HUD-Assisted Rental Housing New America Foundation Reid Cramer, New America Foundation Jeffrey Lubell, Center for Housing Policy July 2011
In the United States, housing assistance is not an entitlement. Despite annual federal expenditures in excess of $30 billion for housing subsidies distributed to roughly 4.8 million households, millions of eligible families with low incomes and high housing costs do not receive any support. Some families have applied for assistance from their local housing authorities but must wait for their names to come to the top of the list; others have not applied but may pay large shares of their income for rent, reducing available funds for basic necessities, such as food and health care. To ensure that our limited federal housing resources are available to assist as many families as possible, we should be actively searching for innovative ways to encourage existing subsidy recipients to build assets and make progress toward economic security. By helping families take advantage of the stability that federally-subsidized housing provides as a foundation for income and asset growth, we can free up existing housing subsidies for other families in need. Read full report. Learn more about the New America Foundation and Center for Housing Policy. __________________________________________ National Public Radio Segment: Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Widening National Public Radio and Pew Research Center July 26th, 2011
There's long been a big gap between the wealth of white families and the wealth of African-Americans and Hispanics. But the Great Recession has made it much worse - the divide is almost twice what it used to be. That's according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, which says that the decline in the housing market is the main cause. Listen to NPR Morning Edition full segment. ___________________________________________ Automatic IRAs and Retirement Security Urban Institute
Barbara Butrica, senior research associate at the Income and Benefits Policy Center July 28th, 2011 Barbara Butrica explains the reasons why many older Americans aren't financially prepared for retirement, how establishing automatic IRAs can help, and other measures policymakers can take to improve retirement security for their constituents. Watch video clip. Learn more about the Urban Institute and its Income and Benefits Policy Center. ________________________________ Exploring the Relationship Between Asset Holding and Family Economic Strain New America Foundation David W. Rothwell and Anna Goren, McGill University July 2011 A recent Gallup Poll captured the social zeitgeist of an America attempting to emerge from the 2008 Great Recession. The nationally representative survey showed that feelings of psychological distress such as worry, anger, and depression increased with the duration of joblessness. Less than 40 percent of those who had been searching for a job for at least 11 weeks rated their lives as 'thriving', while most unemployed Americans expected that they would have to settle for a job that they did not want. These feelings are pervasive in the country with the unemployment rate having reached 9.6 percent in 2010, the highest annual rate since 9.7 percent in 1982. Well beyond its onset, it is clear that the Great Recession has taken a severe and extensive toll on American families. This toll is likely to be especially hard felt for families who already scrape-by on limited earnings and are more likely to work in temporary, part-time, and unstable jobs. Read full report. Learn more about New America Foundation and McGill University. __________________________________ KIPP, UNCF and CFED Launch Partnership for College Completion Citi and Citi Foundation provide $7.5 million anchor investment for innovative program CFED Press Release June 22, 2011 WASHINGTON - Three leading education and asset-building nonprofits-KIPP, UNCF and CFED-have teamed up to launch the Partnership for College Completion (PCC). PCC is the first college completion initiative to combine several key elements into one comprehensive program: incentivized savings accounts, financial and college-readiness education, and scholarship assistance. Anchored by an initial $7.5 million investment from Citi and the Citi Foundation, PCC aims to address a growing and urgent problem in American education. In the U.S. today, only eight percent of students from low-income communities have completed college by their mid-20s. While America is first in the world in the percentage of adults age 55 to 65 with a two- or four-year degree, our ranking drops to eighth among 25- to 34-year-olds. Read full press release. Learn more about the Partnership for College Completion. ____________________________________________ EARN Launches MyDebtStory.com: A Public Forum for Student Loan Borrowers to Join the National Conversation on the Growing Education Debt Crisis EARN Press Release June 29th, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO - EARN, the nation's leading provider of microsavings, is launching MyDebtStory.com to provide a nonpartisan public forum for student loan borrowers to join the national conversation on the growing education debt crisis.
Access to higher education is now in jeopardy. Education debt has now surpassed the nation's credit card debt, and it's expected to top one trillion dollars this year. Many people fear that college debt will be the next economic crisis in the US. As college costs continue to rise, students are taking out even more loans and then struggling for years or decades to pay them back.
"EARN cares deeply about preserving the promise of education for everyone, so we believe student debt should lead to opportunities for future economic success - not stand in the way of success," says EARN President and CEO Ben Mangan. "EARN created My Debt Story because the national debate on education debt is missing the most important voices of all: student borrowers themselves."
Read full press release. Learn more about mydebtstory.com. _________________________________________ Marin County's Growing Education Debt Problem EARN Research Institute Sheryl Lane, MS William Lapp, PhD Ben Magan, MPP Javier Oliver March 2011 The promise of higher education as the equalizer of socio-economic status is being compromised by the debilitating debt that increasingly accompanies higher education. This EARN Research Institute report offers compelling new data on the landscape of education debt as it relates to economic mobility and offers tangible policy recommendations to leaders at the local, state, and federal level. Download full report. Learn more about EARN. ____________________________________________
Disparities in Assets and Ownership: Limitations to the American Dream in Communities of Color Illinois Asset Building Group March 2011 Millions of Illinois families pursue the American Dream each year, reaching for a more successful and prosperous future. However, this dream fails to become a reality for many Illinois families, particularly households of color. The data is clear - there are staggering disparities in wealth between communities of color and whites in Illinois. Limitations in access to reasonable credit, secure financial savings accounts and educational opportunities leave many communities of color deprived of assets necessary to build wealth and financial security. Download full report. Learn more about the Illinois Asset Building Group. |