Upside Down: New report shows most asset building spending helping the wealthy

It is widely accepted that ownership of assets – a home, savings accounts, stocks and investments, a business – is a cornerstone of family financial security. Assets provide a cushion against temporary setbacks and allow for an investment in greater… Read more [More...]

Going to scale: Initiatives to strengthen financial security are spreading

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Assets Learning Conference that brought together over 1,000 participants for three days of plenaries, workshops and sessions exploring approaches to building an economy in which all Americans, including those of… Read more [More...]

Resources on Assets and Financial Security

OK Policy is actively involved in developing and promoting policy ideas that will allow more Oklahomans to build assets as a way to reduce poverty and expand economic opportunity. This page is intended as a guide to some key resources… Read more [More...]

Chart of the Day: Economy has lost over 9 million full-time, year-round jobs

Today the U.S. Census Bureau will release a new set of income, poverty and health insurance data based on the American Community Survey. This survey is the one recommended for state-level analysis, and we will be analyzing its data carefully… Read more [More...]

The 2010 Assets Learning Conference: Creating the Save and Invest Economy

This week I am participating, along with over 1,000 other delegates from around the U.S. and a dozen foreign countries, in the biannual Assets Learning Conference hosted by CFED in Washington, DC (Click here to follow our Twitter feed from… Read more [More...]

Child Development Accounts can offer a “financial head start’

Last week, the Census Bureau released new data showing that one in seven Americans, including one out of every five children, are now living in poverty. This week, some one thousand advocates, program directors, community organizers, business owners, policy analysts… Read more [More...]

New data on poverty and uninsured show recession's continued effects

The U.S. Census Bureau today released its annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage for 2009 based on its March Current Population Survey.  The data reflected the severity of the recession throughout 2009: the national poverty rate rose… Read more [More...]

Richer measure of poverty on its way

Next week, the U.S. Census Bureau will release its annual report on poverty in the United States. The report will tell us how many Americans had income in 2009 below the federal poverty level, which is $18,310 for a family… Read more [More...]

Assets can build the bridge from the safety net to self-sufficiency

An front-page USA Today article last week reported that government anti-poverty programs – including Medicaid health insurance coverage, food stamps, unemployment benefits and welfare cash assistance – are now assisting one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.  Anyone… Read more [More...]

On Labor Day, thinking of those without jobs

In honor of Labor Day weekend, Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, offered this touching essay urging us to keep in mind “the millions of Americans who don’t have jobs, but who in many ways work harder than… Read more [More...]