Download or read book Assets and the Poor written by Michael Sherraden and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work proposes a new approach to welfare: a social policy that goes beyond simple income maintenance to foster individual initiative and self-sufficiency. It argues for an asset-based policy that would create a system of saving incentives through individual development accounts (IDAs) for specific purposes, such as college education, homeownership, self-employment and retirement security. In this way, low-income Americans could gain the same opportunities that middle- and upper-income citizens have to plan ahead, set aside savings and invest in a more secure future.