❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

$500 just for being born

Sarah Gardner Oct 3, 2007
HTML EMBED:
COPY

$500 just for being born

Sarah Gardner Oct 3, 2007
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: A bill being introduced in Congress this morning might breathe new life into an old idea: Savings accounts for children. Sarah Gardener has more.


Sarah Gardner: The idea is simple: give every American newborn $500 in a tax-free savings account. At age 18, kids can use it for college — or they can sock it away until later for a first home or retirement.

Supporter Ray Boshara at the New America Foundation says more than a third of children grow up in households without investments.

Ray Boshara: If we don’t endow these kids with assets at birth, I think their opportunities for a better life are diminished.

So-called “baby bonds” have high-profile support. Hillary Clinton recently proposed giving everyone $5,000 at birth.

But political scientist Larry Sabato doesn’t think the idea will fly, at 5,000 or 500:

Larry Sabato: There’s just no justification really for giving this money to upper middle-class and the wealthy. It just looks like a way to buy votes, frankly.

Under the latest bill, poor children would get a $1,000 nest egg.

I’m Sarah Gardner for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.