美国的贫富差距十分明显. Over the past three decades total real wealth held by American families has tripled, but that growth has not been uniform: the top ten percent of households hold 69 percent of total household wealth while the bottom 50 percent of households hold only 2.4%.^₁ Older families and families with more education and higher-incomes saw their wealth rise faster than that of younger families and families with less income and less education.^₂ The wealth gap could grow even wider and at a faster pace in the next 20 years as wealth transfers from Boomers to Gen X and Millennials. By 2043, approximately 84 trillion dollars is expected to change hands with the majority remaining within a small circle._³ 对年轻人来说, 特别是那些经济资源较少的国家, 缺乏财务稳定性和财富可能会推迟买房, 教育程度和家庭组成. This is especially true of households of color; White family wealth in 2019 was eight times that of an average Black family and five times that of an average Hispanic family.^₄ 这些日益扩大的差距需要解决办法.

今天, states like Connecticut and California and the District of Columbia are working with academics, non-profits and private sector actors in healthcare and housing to leverage historic government investments in early life wealth building.^₅ Baby Bonds are one of several strategies that can help young people from low-income and low-wealth families access “start-up capital for life,” providing meaningful amounts of money that they can later use to purchase assets or make investments.

The opportunity to make progress in addressing wealth gaps has been decades in the making. Academics have been studying the impact of early childhood wealth building accounts for the last 20 years. Studies in Oklahoma and San Francisco have created an evidence base of what happens when under-resourced children are provided start-up capital for life.^₆ 研究ers have found that even a modestly-funded college saving account, 比如529, increases the likelihood that young people will enroll in a postsecondary institution.^₇ 在智力基础上工作, other academics have proposed Baby Bonds as a targeted policy solution for children from households with the least wealth, helping recipients of the funds make purchases as adults that will grow in value and help build economic security and wealth over their lifetimes.^₈ 这包括参加高等教育, 退休投资, 开始一个小生意或者买一套房子. The transformational potential of these programs has inspired numerous savings pilots in cities and state across the country. 加州、康涅狄格州和华盛顿特区的政策制定者.C. 正在实施大规模的婴儿债券计划, inspiring legislators in several other states to propose Baby Bonds legislation.^₉ State Baby Bonds initiatives have the potential to transform economic outcomes for children from low-wealth families and low wealth communities.

Baby Bonds are a part of a holistic suite of policies that can help people achieve short-term financial stability and long-term financial success while closing wealth gaps. There is also a need for more policymaker and private sector collaboration that creates pathways for underserved families and communities to access appropriate financial products including savings, 信贷, insurance and investment instruments that help protect and build wealth. 政府, the private sector and non-profit organizations should come together to advance Baby Bond initiatives, a data-driven public policy solution that helps narrow the wealth gap and support a more inclusive economy.

This piece was developed in collaboration with The New School’s 研究所 on Race, 权力与政治经济学, 也可以在他们的 网站.