Session: Building Assets for Low-Income Children and Youth: Emerging Research and Implications for Social Work Policy and Practice (Society for Social Work and Research 14th Annual Conference: Social Work Research: A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES)

Background: Socioeconomic research shows that when families have more assets, children have better psychological, health, education, and social outcomes. Given that asset wealth and asset poverty are typically intergenerational, it is critical to create policies and programs to break the intergenerational cycle of asset poverty. Recent research reveals that teaching financial capability early in childhood increases children's ability to manage money, thereby increasing capacity for asset building later in life. Further, increasing children's self-expectations by expanding their career and educational goals may promote long-term asset wealth and financial capacity. An emerging body of evidence is beginning to illuminate the impact of parental, educational, and social environments on children's long-term financial outcomes as well as how to provide effective interventions. This symposium presents studies that investigate the processes by which these factors (e.g. parental and educational) influence asset outcomes (e.g., education and wealth ownership) for low-income youth.

Methods: The four papers presented in this symposium represent a range of rigorous research methods, including experimental designs with randomized assignment, quasi-experimental design, and ethnographic study. Both quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed using advanced methods to test research hypotheses to inform policy and program development. Each study focuses on populations underrepresented in most asset-based research, including racial/ethnic minority youth and low-income households. These studies examine the impact of environment and the longitudinal influence of parental, teacher, and peer relationships on later financial and asset-based outcomes.

Results: The first study finds that thinking of the path to college (closed vs. open) influences 7th-grade students' achievement goals and plans. Changing children's perceptions of future opportunity improves planned effort, particularly when students are not behind academically (i.e., before an achievement gap occurs). The second study finds that parental teaching of money management in childhood is significantly associated with financial outcomes in adulthood, as measured by credit scores and credit debt. Additionally, among respondents who report high levels of prior parental teaching of money management, there is a strong positive correlation between attainment of higher education and better credit outcomes. The third study presents early findings showing that Native American youth who participate in financial and entrepreneurship education have improved odds of high-school graduation and demonstrate positive changes in their perceptions of their academic and career futures. The final study finds that low-income parents are able to save in children's development accounts despite resource constraints, and that these accounts bolster parents' expectations for their children's futures. However, this study shows slow take-up rates to open the accounts can be largely explained by mistrust of financial institutions, reluctance to share information, and embarrassment of gaps in financial knowledge.

Conclusions: This symposium addresses important gaps in the current literature on assets, expectations, and children's financial futures. The goal of each study is to advance knowledge of how the presence of assets and financial education impact children's outcomes, and how effective interventions can be developed. By raising parental and children's expectations for the future and increasing their educational and financial achievements, families can break the intergenerational cycle of asset poverty.