title: Material hardship and 529 college savings plan participation: the mitigating effects of Child Development Accounts.
abstract: Experience of material hardship can adversely affect a family's ability to make long-term investments in children's development. We examine whether material hardship is associated with one indicator of such investments: participation in a tax-advantaged college savings plan (529 plan). Data for this study come from the SEED for Oklahoma Kids (SEED OK) experiment, an intervention that offers Child Development Accounts with financial incentives to encourage the accumulation of college savings for children from the time of their birth. Results show that material hardship is negatively associated with 529-plan participation, and this association varies by treatment status. At all levels of material hardship, treatment-group mothers are more likely to hold accounts than control-group mothers. These findings suggest that CDAs can be a useful policy tool to support families' financial preparation for college.
authors.affiliation: Center for Social Development, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States. Electronic address: nwikoff@go.wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wikoff
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 211 Tegeler Hall, 3550 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63103, United States. Electronic address: jhuang5@slu.edu.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 Floyd Avenue, P.O. Box 842027, Richmond, VA 23284-2027, United States. Electronic address: ykim@vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Youngmi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Center for Social Development, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States. Electronic address: sherrad@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherraden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009825:Oklahoma; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014495:Universities / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Assets; Child Development Accounts; College savings; Economic resources; Economic well-being; Material hardship