We examine the long-term effects of a 1998–2003 randomized experiment in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Individual Development Accounts that offered low-income households 2:1 matching funds for housing down payments. Prior work shows that, among households who rented in 1998, homeownership rates increased more through 2003 in the treatment group than for controls. We show that control group renters caught up rapidly with the treatment group after the experiment ended. As of 2009, the program had an economically small and statistically insignificant effect on homeownership rates, the number of years respondents owned homes, home equity, and foreclosure activity among baseline renters. How can public policy help low-income people improve their long-term economic prospects? The United States has historically focused on a combination of publicly provided education, income maintenance, consumption support, and work incentives to help families maintain a minimum level of subsistence. In recent years, an additional approach has aimed to complement traditional policies by helping low-income households save and accumulate wealth. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) provide people with saving accounts in which withdrawals are matched if they are used for qualified purposes—for example, purchasing a home or furthering post-secondary education—and are designed to help low-income people accumulate wealth (Sherraden 1991). From 1999 through 2008, more than 50,000 IDAs were opened at 544 project sites through the federal Assets for Independence (AFI) Program, which provided grants to community-based organizations and local governments (US Department of Health and Human Services 2010). Variants of IDAs are also in place or under consideration in numerous other countries, as are matched saving accounts for children (Loke and Sherraden 2009; Deshpande and Zimmerman 2010).
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Published By | http://ssrn.com/abstract=2208224 |
Edited By | Saba Bilquis |