Predatory mortgage lending in the sub-prime market (for those with bad or no credit, who cannot qualify for prime interest rate loans) is a serious problem for low- and moderate-income families. Twenty-eight states have passed comprehensive reforms or enacted regulations to curb specific predatory practices. This report from the Center for Responsible Lending study finds that state reforms not only cut down on abusive practices, but also increase access to loans for people who need it most.

In late February 2006, CBPP uncovered overlooked data from the Congressional Budget Office that show that the richest 1 percent in the United States received about 58 percent of all capital income in 2003, compared to 38 percent in 1979. This report looks at who received income from interest, dividends, rents, and capital gains from 1979 to 2003.

Ways to Work provides small, low-interest loans to working poor families (sponsored by the Alliance for Children and Families). Find out more about how they’re serving low-income families.

The Finance Project’s Providing and Funding Financial Literacy Programs for Low-Income Adults and Youth examines federal programs that provide resources to develop financial education programs for families, including the Social Services Block Grant and TANF. Banking the Unbanked: Helping Low-Income Families Build Financial Assets, focuses on developing strategies to help former TANF recipients develop assets as they move into the workforce and toward self-sufficiency.

From November 3-5, 2005 the Search Institute presents the 2005 Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth Conference. "The Asset-Building Get-Together: Creating Intergenerational Community" is the theme for this year's conference which will be held in Dallas, Texas. If you're interested in learning how to promote positive youth development through asset building, this conference is for you!

CFK reports from: Hall of States Building
Event: "2005 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard: Can Families Still Achieve the American Dream?"
Organized by: Corporation for Enterprise Development
Where/When: Washington, D.C., July 29, 2005

Experts at a Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) policy briefing said they believe CFED's 2005 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard will generate discussion and collaboration on asset development for working families.

Reviewed by Nancy Irene Boehm

I really liked author Lisa Robert's style of writing. I was able to read the book quickly and comprehend the contents easily. Her writing is light and enjoyable. It kept my interest through the entire book. The stories were great. The one where she is in labor and trying to finish a thesis had me giggling all day.

The format of the book was excellent, also. As a computer programmer I work with many task lists. The tasks were laid out in detail with time estimates on how long to accomplish the tasks. It would be easy for someone to start a business by just following the task laid out in How to Raise a Family and a Career Under One Roof.

The mission of this organization is to help communities build their capacity for mutually beneficial problem solving by helping them to discover and share the strengths and assets of all their members.

The idea that the federal government could play a role in helping low-income families accumulate assets to educate their children, buy a home, or plan for their future may be new, but the federal role in helping other households accumulate assets is well established -- primarily through tax breaks for home ownership, retirement savings and other investments.

According to this Corporation for Enterprise Development study, federal subsidies for asset development total $335 billion a year (nine times the annual highway/transit budget) -- but heavily favor already-wealthy families. In fact, over a third of the asset-building benefits go to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans (those who typically earn over $1 million per year). Less than 5 percent of the benefits go to the bottom 60 percent of American taxpayers.

Financial education is important for kids. But for those whose families have no significant assets, the lessons might seem pie-in-the-sky. A five-year pilot project utilizing the concept of "stakeholder accounts" aims to make asset-building real for some of these children and their families.