A new WUSTL social work study shows that comprehension and other critical skills improve dramatically with one-on-one help from Experience Corps' volunteers. WUSTL social work professor Nancy Morrow-Howell comments.

References:

1. April 8, 2009 — Students in urban schools get big boost from pioneering tutor program in the The Christian Science Monitor

In the contemporary era of rampant foreclosures, credit card debt, and ever-evolving scams that prey on the economically vulnerable, few social work schools offer specialized financial training to their students, but change is under way. WUSTL social work professor Michael Sherraden devised the concept of Individual Development Accounts, which helps low-income families build assets to reach long-term goals.

References:

1. Nov. 17, 2008 — Social workers to teach money management in the CNN.com

and 1 others.

Against the backdrop of the economic meltdown, a movement is building within the ranks of America's social workers to make their profession more adept at helping clients overcome financial woes. WUSTL social work professor pioneered the concept of Individual Development Accounts, which help low-income families build assets to reach long-term goals such buying a home.

References:

1. Nov. 9, 2008 — Social workers boosting expertise on money woes in the Associated Press

and 123 others.

Asset Builders CDC executive director Cecilia Salinas responds to critics of the benefits of financial literacy saying, "We have learned education does make a difference in changing behavior and establishing savings habits."
"Nationally a recent report by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis noted positive changes in financial behavior resulting from participation in the IDA program and financial education classes."

References:

1. Aug. 5, 2008 — Financial literacy leads to positive change in the Chicago Tribune

There's a gap between the dream of retirement and the reality Americans face. A recent study from WUSTL School of Social Work estimates that 4 out of 10 people over age 60 will fall below the poverty line at some point in their later years. Countless more will watch their dream retirement fade as they discover that their savings barely cover their immediate needs. But the prospect of fiscal free fall has yet to alter most Americans' behavior, and baby boomers are saving a scant third of what they'll need.

References:

1. Sept. 6, 2007 — Retirement Cash: Will You Have Enough? in the Readers Digest (NY)

Article looks at a growing underside of the vibrant, rapidly shifting economy of northern Virginia, where the high cost of housing and the unpredictable nature of the job market can plunge workers into poverty and homelessness.
The situation in northern Virginia is similar to those surfacing nationwide.
WUSTL social work professor Mark Rank is one of the experts commenting.

References:

1. Feb. 27, 2007 — In northern Virginia, rising economy sinks working poor in the Washington Post
2. Feb. 26, 2007 — Many Americans are falling deeper into depths of poverty in the Seattle Times

and 5 others.

Volunteer agencies were urged yesterday to tap into the pool of aging and retiring baby boomers at a forum on international volunteerism at the Brookings Institution.
The goal of the Brookings initiative is to double international volunteerism in three years, from 50,000 people to 100,000 people. Margaret Sherraden, researcher at WUSTL's Center for Social Development, comments on international volunteerism.

References:

1. Dec. 6, 2006 — Baby boomers seen as source of global volunteers in the The Washington Times

An increasing number of state governments, nonprofit groups, foundations and private companies have been running pilot programs to induce poor and working-class Americans to save. The results, they say, are surprising: When participants get the right incentives and financial counseling, many open savings accounts, arrange for payroll deductions, and begin accumulating assets.
The savings programs have their roots in the work of WUSTL professor and social worker Michael Sherraden. His 1991 book, "Assets and the Poor," argued that governments and charitable groups should move beyond traditional welfare's aim to provide the poor with income to meet immediate needs. The broader goal, he wrote, should be to help the poor save money, which can provide them a stepping stone to escaping poverty.

References:

1. Jan. 11, 2006 — New programs spur working poor to begin saving in the Wall Street Journal

Story on the San Francisco Solano study, a provocative research project that examines if land ownership lifts people out of poverty. The study was conducted by two Argentine universities and Harvard Business School. The researchers found that landownership status seemed to make no difference in employment or income. But it did seem to affect the way residents spent their money, and their aspirations and expectations. WUSTL Nobel Prize-winning economist Douglass North, a specialist in property rights, comments.

References:

1. — Barrio Study Links Land Ownership to a Better Life in the Wall Street Journal

The scope of Bush's pledge to rebuild the Gulf Coast shocked fiscal conservatives in his party — especially as a second storm, Hurricane Rita, threatened to wreak still more destruction. One compromise Bush may have to accept: supplementing business-tax breaks for new equipment with credits for hiring. Professor of Social Work Michael Sherraden offers commentary on Bush's new plans for the gulf coast.

References:

1. Oct. 3, 2005 — A conservative new deal for the gulf coast in the Business Week

Article looks at the Gulf reconstruction plan announced by President Bush.
Bush's vision of stimulating business investment to lift thousands out of poverty is a far cry from classic Washington-directed pump-priming. Instead, it is something of a conservative New Deal, a radically rethought version of Big Government that bends its spending to conservative goals: lower taxes, less regulation, more local control, and bootstrap capitalism.
WUSTL social work professor Michael Sherraden comments.

References:

1. Sept. 22, 2005 — The Right's New Deal for the Gulf Coast in the BusinessWeek.com

Individual Retirement Accounts have become a crucial tool in closing the gap between rich and poor.
Now Congress and President Bush are looking to take the accounts nationwide as part of a tax-code overhaul aimed at building what Bush calls an "ownership society."
WUSTL social work professor Michael Sherraden, whose groundbreaking work in the book Assets and the Poor set the benchmark 15 years ago for up-by-the-bootstraps programs, comments.

References:

1. April 28, 2005 — Welfare-reform provision helping pull people out of poverty in the Scripps Howard News Service

and 3 others.

Article on a special savings program - called Individual Development Accounts, or IDAs - designed to help poor families accumulate assets to buy a home, fund a small business or pay for college.
IDAs were the brainchild of WUSTL social development professor Michael Sherraden. He argued in research published in 1991 that Americans traditionally have built wealth by acquiring assets, such as houses.
"That meant we had to find a way for poor people to accumulate assets, but the country's social policy supported income programs - food stamps, things like that,"

References:

1. March 23, 2005 — Individual Development Accounts can help working poor start to save in the Associated Press

and 2 others.