By Esther Turcios and Blair Bacon | October 2026
Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI) believes every child deserves the chance to build their financial future. But for children born into families without generational wealth, the path to economic mobility can be much harder. Baby Bonds can help level the playing field, putting more children on a path to economic opportunity and financial stability regardless of their childhood circumstances.
Colorado’s Racial Wealth Gap: Why Baby Bonds Matter
The racial wealth gap has only widened in Colorado over the last several decades. These disparities are reflected in unequal access to wealth-building opportunities, including completing postsecondary education or workforce training, starting a business, and owning a home:
- While homeownership rates have increased for all races since 1960 in Colorado, the gap between white homeowners and those of color continues growing, with a 13% disparity between white and Black homeowners.[1]
- As of 2020, only 38% of Black and 25% of Latinx Coloradans held a postsecondary credential like a degree or industry certification, compared to 60% of white residents.[2]
- A 2016 report by Collective Colorado found that white workers were twice as likely to own a business as Black workers, and the average value of a white-owned business was four times that of a Black-owned business.[3]
Addressing these disparities in access to wealth-building for communities of color in Colorado requires a multifaceted solution and robust coalition. That’s why, in 2024, we joined forces with Soul 2 Soul Sisters (S2SS), a Black and Femme-led grassroots organization, to lead the effort for Colorado to join Connecticut in creating a statewide Baby Bonds program. Recently, CFI and S2SS commissioned a feasibility study conducted by the Systems for Equity and Economic Dignity Colorado (SEED CO) team to model program costs and gather community perspectives on a potential statewide program. The goal was to answer a straightforward question: Could Baby Bonds work in Colorado?
The research shows they can.
What the Findings Tell Us
Our study team found that Baby Bonds are a practical, powerful tool Colorado can use to give children from families with low incomes something meaningful to build from. A targeted program would serve children based on family income or eligibility for programs like Medicaid, regardless of race or ethnicity. The idea is simple: Children should not have to be born into wealth to have a real chance to build it.
Key findings include:
- A targeted program for children covered by Medicaid could cost approximately $70 million per annual birth cohort (meaning children born in Colorado in a single year).
- A universal Baby Bonds program could generate an estimated $1.1 billion in new wealth for said annual birth cohort.Colorado could create a sustainable funding model by combining an initial investment with dedicated revenue and public and private contributions, reducing reliance on annual appropriations.
- Intentional program design—including automatic enrollment, financial education and coaching, attention to families’ immediate financial needs, meaningful public contributions, and culturally responsive, clear outreach—will help ensure Baby Bonds reach the children they are meant to serve.
- The study projects that initial Baby Bonds contributions of $3,200 per child would substantially narrow Colorado’s white-Black wealth gap ratio from 3.0 to 2.3, and the white-Latinx ratio from 2.0 to 1.7.
We have a lot more to lose if we do nothing. Without intervention, the median wealth of white Coloradans at age 35 is projected to be three times that of Black Coloradans and twice that of Latinx Coloradans.. Those disparities are the result of generations of policy choices that have made it easier for some families to build and pass down wealth than others. An income-based Baby Bonds program would serve children of every race and ethnicity while helping address the unequal opportunities that continue to shape wealth in Colorado.
Creating a Colorado Movement for Wealth Building Policies
Now Colorado has a strong foundation for advancing Baby Bonds legislation and building a more coordinated approach to wealth-building. The study identifies the Colorado Department of the Treasury as a potential home for these programs. The office is already home to Colorado SecureSavings, a state-facilitated retirement program, and Colorado ABLE, which helps people with disabilities save for qualified expenses. CFI sees this as an opportunity to build an accessible path to wealth in Colorado, with the Treasurer’s Office becoming a one-stop shop for programs that help Coloradans save, invest, and build long-term financial security throughout their lives.
In 2024, CFI and S2SS convened the Wealth Building Coalition, bringing together diverse partners to advance wealth-building policies in Colorado. Alongside our feasibility study, initiatives like Gary Community Ventures and Impact Charitable’s Ignite Futures Fund, a wealth-building pilot program for youth, are helping lay the groundwork for what comes next. With the support of The New School’s Institute on Race, Power, and the Political Economy and our coalition partners, Colorado has a real opportunity to turn research into action and build a future where every child, regardless of their family’s wealth, has a meaningful chance to build wealth of their own.
[1] https://www.bellpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Racial-Wealth-Gap-Homeownership-Credit.pdf
[2] https://www.luminafoundation.org/stronger-nation/report/#/progress/state/CO
[3] https://collective.coloradotrust.org/stories/the-racial-wealth-gap-in-colorado/