A Call to Action

A large and growing body of scholarly evidence suggests that emerging public policies must balance the importance of both income and assets to meaningfully address issues associated with poverty and self-sufficiency. Given the increasing importance and power of states—both in terms of funding and responsibility for public policy and in experimenting with new policy directions—the time is right to examine asset-based policies among states and to encourage bold action that will lead to strong asset outcomes for low-income people. States have a unique historical opportunity to serve as the leaders and incubators for a policy shift that could change the face of poverty alleviation strategies in America.

With a particular emphasis on populations that are often left out of the economic mainstream, the State Asset Development Report Card considers 68 socioeconomic and policy measures to compare states on how assets are accumulated, distributed, and protected among their citizens. Taken together, the measures both describe each state’s performance as well as highlight a possible blend of asset-based policies that could enhance future outcomes.

The Report Card is a call to attention, further inquiry, and action. This groundbreaking tool captures the most up-to-date data available on asset distribution and policy and presents it individually for each of the 50 states. Further, it provides rich new data that has never before been available on a state-by-state basis and highlights some of the myriad of opportunities for states to assume leadership roles in this exciting area of policy development.