Spotlights The People’s Prosperity Pilot is Providing Financial Relief for CollegeBound Saint Paul Families

In September 2020, the city of St. Paul, MN, launched a guaranteed income pilot championed by Mayor Melvin Carter—a member of the network,  Mayors for a Guaranteed Income [[link removed]].  The People’s Prosperity Pilot [[link removed]] became fully operational in November 2020 and  will provide up to 150 families with $500 per month in guaranteed income for an 18-month period [[link removed]]. The program is intended to address economic hardships faced by families in the city.  Read More. [[link removed]]

2020 State of the Children’s Savings Field — Resilience Despite Challenges

The children’s savings field continued to grow in 2020, according to a new report from Prosperity Now, Sustaining the Movement: The State of the Children’s Savings Field 2020 [[link removed]], which shares findings from our 2020 Children’s Savings Account (CSA) program survey. The report’s findings reflect how programs adapted to COVID-19 since 2020 brought unique challenges to the field. The report shows trends over the past few years across major components of CSA programs – including enrollment type, funding sources and long-term goals. Read More [[link removed]].

In the NewsCSA Champion, Tishaura Jones, Sworn in as St. Louis Mayor

On April 6, then St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones won her bid to be mayor of St. Louis, Missouri [[link removed]] in a run-off election. Mayor Jones, who was sworn in on April 20, is the city’s first Black female mayor. Jones has been a strong advocate for CSAs. She started the College Kids [[link removed]] CSA program in 2015, is a member of the Campaign for Every Kid’s Future [[link removed]], and has inspired other elected officials across the country to start CSA programs. The College Kids program will continue under the newly appointed treasurer, Adam Layne, the mayor’s former deputy chief of staff.

First Cohort of Nebraska Babies Receive Meadowlark Savings Pledge Funds

The Meadowlark Program [[link removed]], created by the Nebraska legislature in 2019, is kicking off this month. All babies born as Nebraska residents in 2020 will receive a $50 Meadowlark Savings Pledge deposited on their behalf into a 529 account [[link removed]]. Every child born as a Nebraska resident is automatically enrolled in the Meadowlark Program in the spring following the year they are born. Meadowlark funds can be used at most of Nebraska’s two- and four-year colleges, as well as at postsecondary technical, trade and vocational schools.

Providence Promise Families Continue to Save Despite COVID-19 Challenges

In an opinion piece for the Providence Journal [[link removed]], Madalyn Ciampi, the executive director of Providence Promise [[link removed]], and Daniel Baudouin, the Board Chair, discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Providence Promise program. Despite increasing economic challenges for low-income families and families of color, many families signed up for the program or expanded their engagement during the pandemic. Families also increased their take-up of incentives, such as for attending online workshops or reading with their children, and more joined the Parent Council. As of Jan. 1, Providence Promise families had more than $450,000 in their accounts (from program contributions and family deposits combined), including an increase of nearly $250,000 in 2020.

NYC Mayoral Candidate Shaun Donovan Proposes “Equity Bonds”

Mayoral candidate and former Obama-Biden Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a proposal to give $1,000 Equity Bonds to every child in New York City [[link removed]]. This proposal is based on Baby Bonds [[link removed]], a policy that Prosperity Now is promoting at the federal level through the American Opportunity Accounts Act [[link removed]]. Like Baby Bonds, Equity Bonds are intended to address generational wealth disparities by providing funds for college, buying a home, starting a business, eradicating debt and other methods of achieving economic security. Eligibility would include children up to age two, as well as children in public, private and parochial schools. Under the proposal, children would also receive a recurring annual contribution of up to $2,000, based on family income, into their government savings account.

From the FieldNew Research Findings on SEED OK Published

Two newly released reports from the Center for Social Development [[link removed]] (CSD) show that parents of children with  Child Development Accounts [[link removed]] (CDAs) respond “by deepening their commitment to the child’s higher education and their own efforts to save for that education.” [[link removed]] These reports present exciting new findings from the randomized-control trial of CDAs that began with newborns in 2007. The first report [[link removed]] features findings from a new survey of SEED OK participants completed in 2020, and the second report [[link removed]] includes updated financial information about SEED OK accounts from 2019.

New Resources to Promote Baby Bonds

With the recent reintroduction of the American Opportunity Accounts Act [[link removed]] and introduction of Baby Bonds legislation in several states, Prosperity Now is increasing our efforts to promote Baby Bonds through new resources, all of which are collected on our new Baby Bonds resource page [[link removed]]. Prosperity Now is also assessing the details of recent state proposals [[link removed]]—including bills from New Jersey, Connecticut and Iowa—to guide legislators and advocates toward policies that would complement the proposed federal Baby Bonds program, align with other existing programs such as CSAs, and maximize efforts to shrink the racial wealth divide [[link removed]].

Resources and Publications

Designing Children’s Savings Accounts for Equity: Best Practices from the Field [[link removed]] |Commonwealth| December 2020

Sustaining the Movement: The State of the Children’s Savings Field 2020 [[link removed]] |Prosperity Now| March 2021

Baby Bonds: Landmark Legislation to Address to Growing Racial Wealth Divide [[link removed]] |Prosperity Now| March 2021

Prosperity Now’s Role in Advancing Baby Bonds [[link removed]] |Prosperity Now| March 2021

A Long-Term Experiment on Child Development Accounts: Update and Impacts of SEED for Oklahoma Kids [[link removed]]|Center for Social Development| March 2021

Financial Outcomes in a Child Development Account Experiment: Full Inclusion, Success Regardless of Race or Income, and Investment Growth for All [[link removed]]| Center for Social Development| March 2021

Past and Upcoming Webinars

Sustaining the Movement: The State of Children’s Savings [[link removed]] |Prosperity Now| March 2021

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