A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned: Advancing Economic Mobility Through Savings
This report finds that having parents with high savings positively impacts one's upward mobility, particularly for children of low-income parents; having high savings oneself increases the chances of moving up from the bottom of the income ladder. These findings are considered in the policy recommendations, made by two of the report's authors, who suggest that standardizing public assistance asset tests across programs and states, as well as making incentives in the federal tax code more attainable for low-income populations, will encourage more American to save, thereby increasing their chances of being upwardly mobile.
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(NOVEMBER 2009)
- Figure 1: Income Mobility is Limited at the Top and Bottom of the Income Ladder
- Figure 2: Parental Savings are Associated with Greater Upward Income Mobility but Not Less Downward Mobility
- Figure 3: A Person’s Own Initial Savings are Associated with Greater Upward Income Mobility but Not Less Downward Mobility
- Table 1: Budget Cost of Tax-Favored Savings Vehicles
- Table 2: Participation in Tax-Favored Savings Vehicles Associated with Retirement, 2003, by Account or Plan Type
- Table 3: Participation in Tax-Favored Savings Vehicles Associated with Retirement, 1997, 2000, 2003, by income, age cohort, and marital status
- Table 4: Average Contributions to 401(k)-Type Plans, 2003, by income, age cohort, and marital status, in 2003 dollars
- Table 5: Tax Benefits of Contributions to Savings Vehicles Associated with Retirement,* 2004
