The US savings rate decreased from 10.8 percent in 1984 to 0 percent in 2005, according to the Urban Institute. Additionally, the bottom quarter of the population by income has a negative net worth. This article reviews strategies to boost the savings rate in the US, as well as offers program improvements to asset building programs already in existence.

From the Urban Institute, this fact sheet reviews various work supports available to low-income families since the 1996 PRWORA. Although work supports were significantly expanded, they still fall short in providing families enough to promote asset building, leading to self-sufficiency.

From the Urban Institute, this report reviews the state of financial literacy and education programs in the US. Authors offer their perspectives on the content of current financial education programs and offer implications for the future of financial literacy problems.

From Economic Opportunity Studies, this article shows the impact of increasing energy costs on the low-income population. Authors also offer a comparison of the energy burden across income categories, and found that the resource available for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is not enough to support energy costs in low-income households.

This issue brief aims to discuss predatory lending and the effects that this practice has on the financial wellbeing of children and families. Authors review how local communities can take action against predatory lending toward vulnerable borrowers to help support asset building in low income working families.

Authored by Kristin S. Seefeldt and Sean M. Orzol. In 1996, welfare reform legislation imposed a 60-month lifetime limit on TANF benefits. The authors use four waves of data from the Women's Employment Study to determine which personal characteristics are associated with accumulating months on TANF at low (less than 20 months of receipt), medium (20 to 39 months), and high (40 to 60 months) levels. They find that many of the same factors are associated with being in both the medium and high accumulation groups, relative to the low group. However, demographic variables, such as the presence of a partner, race, and the number of children seem to matter more in determining whether someone will accumulate a low as opposed to a medium amount of time on TANF. The presence of human capital problems, as well as persistent personal and family challenges--such as children with health problems, domestic violence, and drug use--all greatly increase the likelihood of accumulating many months toward the 60-month time limit.

Authored by Lashawn Richburg-Hayes and Stephen Freedman. This MDRC report analyzes the experiences of welfare "cyclers" using five MDRC studies of welfare reform initiatives during the mid- to late-1990s. Overall, cyclers constituted a relatively small portion of the welfare caseload (9 percent).

Since the inception of PRWORA in 1996, welfare clients were given a 60-month time limit for the amount of time on case assistance. The first time that clients reached their time limits in California was January of 2003. This report outlines how time limits were implemented in California and the effects that the time limit has on low-income families.

From the Welfare Policy Research Project, this research article reviews a study in California on the effects of the 60-month TANF time limit. As a result of 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, all adults receiving welfare are subject to a five year lifetime limit for cash benefits. Authors discuss how these time limits have affected families enrolled in the CalWORKS TANF program.

This research project, an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, assesses the well-being of low-income children and families in the post-welfare reform era. The project examines strategies families have used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. This project focuses on how these strategies affect children's lives, emphasizing their health and development, as well as their need for, and use of, social services.