The Asset Building News Week is a weekly Friday feature on The Ladder, the Asset Building Program blog, designed to help readers keep up with news and developments in the asset building field. This week's topics include inequality, economic mobility, rental assistance, homeownership, and minimum wage.
Inequality & Economic Mobility
President Obama addressed the American public this week in a speech focused on the country’s current economic outlook, primarily in regards to inequality and the lack of economic mobility. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post says it was “the best speech Obama has given on the economy” and Greg Sargent, also of the Washington Post, believes some may see it as “one of the most important speeches of the Obama presidency.” Others weren’t so sure. In The American Prospect, Paul Waldman argues that words are not enough, noting the Obama administration’s lack of success in addressing the issue thus far. At the same time, the New York Times Editorial Board argues Obama should have mentioned tax code reform “to eliminate the absurdly generous breaks given to those at the very top.” Matthew Yglesias of Slate wonders why the substantial issue of unemployment wasn’t mentioned.
Bryce Covert of Think Progress writes that children whose parents are in professional or managerial jobs are six times more likely to attend elite American private colleges than those whose parents are working class, according to a study from The Sutton Trust.
Regarding economic mobility, Susan Heavey of Reuters reports on a Pew study that finds neighborhoods play an important role in determining a family’s prospects of moving up the economic ladder, with more economically integrated neighborhoods having better mobility.
Along these lines, the Center for American Progress released a trio of reports this week from Jared Bernstein, Adrian Kugler, and David R. Howell that “debunk the myth that top income tax breaks and other policies that benefit the wealthy generate broadly shared economic prosperity.”
Rental Assistance & Home Ownership
Hannah Emple of the Asset Building Program released a report on the current structure and status of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. With certain policy reforms, Emple argues FSS “can be part of a successful strategy to promote economic self-sufficiency among households that receive rental assistance in the U.S.” Demonstrating the program’s effectiveness, Richard Ryman of the Green Bay Press Gazette shares some FSS program success stories from Wisconsin.
In less optimistic news, Martin Moylan of Minnesota Public Radio writes about how some of Minnesota’s poorest people are being hurt by cuts in federal subsidies for public housing and pay assistance. Nationally, these programs have been cut by $1.7 billion in the past three years. Similarly, Gene Demby writes in NPR about the consequences of America’s long history of housing discrimination. Calling for an end to such practices, Zach McDade writes in Urban Institute’s Metro Trends Blog about a speech by President Obama’s chief economic adviser, Gene Sperling, urging comprehensive housing finance reform and emphasizing its potential to broaden and strengthen the middle class.
Regarding home ownership, the New York Times’ Shaila Dewan writes that “building homes to lease, rather than sell, has begun to make sense to home builders and investors because the pool of qualified first-time home buyers has shrunk even as the price of buying existing homes has risen enough to make new construction worthwhile again.” While this may stray from the American norm, economist Andrew Oswald argues in the New York Times that renting is actually better than buying. Oswald asserts that homeownership stalls the economy, especially because it prevents residential mobility for young workers.
Minimum Wage
Aaron C. Davis of the Washington Post reports on the D.C. Council’s unanimous vote to raise the city’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $11.50. With Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George counties also taking part in this wage hike, the Baltimore Sun examines the policy’s possible effects in the state. In related news from the New York Times, Jared Bernstein sheds some light on false ideas about minimum wages and also explains their implications as related to job quality.
Quick Hits
Research from UCLA psychology professor, Chris Dunkel Schetter, found a link between stress, poverty, and ethnicity among young parents. Schetter notes that "being poor was associated with more of almost every kind of stress."
President of Illinois Federation of Teachers, Dan Montgomery, illustrates the importance of anti-poverty measures and early childhood education to the success of American students and the education system as a whole. Also, a short video from the American Federation of Teachers provides some surprising and informative statistics.
Be sure to register for the National Institute on Retirement Security’s December 10th webinar on new research concerning race and retirement security.
Don’t miss Aleta’s Sprague’s piece in the Weekly Wonk on the ins and outs of California’s retirement savings plan.![Publication Image]( "Publication Image")
Inequality & Economic Mobility
President Obama addressed the American public this week in a speech focused on the country’s current economic outlook, primarily in regards to inequality and the lack of economic mobility. Ezra Klein of the Washington Post says it was “the best speech Obama has given on the economy” and Greg Sargent, also of the Washington Post, believes some may see it as “one of the most important speeches of the Obama presidency.” Others weren’t so sure. In The American Prospect, Paul Waldman argues that words are not enough, noting the Obama administration’s lack of success in addressing the issue thus far. At the same time, the New York Times Editorial Board argues Obama should have mentioned tax code reform “to eliminate the absurdly generous breaks given to those at the very top.” Matthew Yglesias of Slate wonders why the substantial issue of unemployment wasn’t mentioned.
Bryce Covert of Think Progress writes that children whose parents are in professional or managerial jobs are six times more likely to attend elite American private colleges than those whose parents are working class, according to a study from The Sutton Trust.
Regarding economic mobility, Susan Heavey of Reuters reports on a Pew study that finds neighborhoods play an important role in determining a family’s prospects of moving up the economic ladder, with more economically integrated neighborhoods having better mobility.
Along these lines, the Center for American Progress released a trio of reports this week from Jared Bernstein, Adrian Kugler, and David R. Howell that “debunk the myth that top income tax breaks and other policies that benefit the wealthy generate broadly shared economic prosperity.”
Rental Assistance & Home Ownership
Hannah Emple of the Asset Building Program released a report on the current structure and status of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program. With certain policy reforms, Emple argues FSS “can be part of a successful strategy to promote economic self-sufficiency among households that receive rental assistance in the U.S.” Demonstrating the program’s effectiveness, Richard Ryman of the Green Bay Press Gazette shares some FSS program success stories from Wisconsin.
In less optimistic news, Martin Moylan of Minnesota Public Radio writes about how some of Minnesota’s poorest people are being hurt by cuts in federal subsidies for public housing and pay assistance. Nationally, these programs have been cut by $1.7 billion in the past three years. Similarly, Gene Demby writes in NPR about the consequences of America’s long history of housing discrimination. Calling for an end to such practices, Zach McDade writes in Urban Institute’s Metro Trends Blog about a speech by President Obama’s chief economic adviser, Gene Sperling, urging comprehensive housing finance reform and emphasizing its potential to broaden and strengthen the middle class.
Regarding home ownership, the New York Times’ Shaila Dewan writes that “building homes to lease, rather than sell, has begun to make sense to home builders and investors because the pool of qualified first-time home buyers has shrunk even as the price of buying existing homes has risen enough to make new construction worthwhile again.” While this may stray from the American norm, economist Andrew Oswald argues in the New York Times that renting is actually better than buying. Oswald asserts that homeownership stalls the economy, especially because it prevents residential mobility for young workers.
Minimum Wage
Aaron C. Davis of the Washington Post reports on the D.C. Council’s unanimous vote to raise the city’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $11.50. With Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George counties also taking part in this wage hike, the Baltimore Sun examines the policy’s possible effects in the state. In related news from the New York Times, Jared Bernstein sheds some light on false ideas about minimum wages and also explains their implications as related to job quality.
Quick Hits
Research from UCLA psychology professor, Chris Dunkel Schetter, found a link between stress, poverty, and ethnicity among young parents. Schetter notes that "being poor was associated with more of almost every kind of stress."
President of Illinois Federation of Teachers, Dan Montgomery, illustrates the importance of anti-poverty measures and early childhood education to the success of American students and the education system as a whole. Also, a short video from the American Federation of Teachers provides some surprising and informative statistics.
Be sure to register for the National Institute on Retirement Security’s December 10th webinar on new research concerning race and retirement security.
Don’t miss Aleta’s Sprague’s piece in the Weekly Wonk on the ins and outs of California’s retirement savings plan.
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