Baby Bonds
Baby Bonds are an increasingly popular bipartisan government policy in which every child born into poverty receives a publicly funded trust account at birth. This “start-up capital” allows young adults to access education, home ownership, and entrepreneurship, enabling them to build wealth and lead lives that are hopeful, fulfilling, productive, prosperous, and self-directed.
Follow our Baby Blogs series to learn about the vision, politics, and people behind Baby Bonds and their transformative impact on the lives of young people, their families, communities, and our economy.
Reports and Publications
A Brighter Future with Baby Bonds: How States and Cities Should Invest in Our Kids
By David Radcliffe, Darrick Hamilton, and Shira Markoff
February 2024
Over the past several years, Baby Bonds—publicly funded child trust accounts designed to address racial/ethnic wealth inequality—have gained momentum at the state and local levels. Connecticut and Washington, DC passed the first Baby Bonds policies in 2021 and several other states have proposed legislation. Presented by the Institute and Prosperity Now, this paper provides guidance and context for elected officials, policymakers and advocates to help them craft effective state-and local-level Baby Bonds proposals. It lays out the essential elements to include in state- and local-level Baby Bonds legislation and key design considerations for programs, describes how Baby Bonds complement policies that address the more immediate financial needs of households with low incomes, and discusses how to align state and local proposals with a potential national Baby Bonds program.
Recent News
"Why This Economist Wants to Give Every Poor Child $50,000": Talking Baby Bonds with Ezra Klein
In this interview for The New York Times, Darrick Hamilton joined The Ezra Klein Show to discuss how policy shapes the structure of wealth in the U.S., and how tools like Baby Bonds can be used to foster economic and racial equity. Read more >>
A Promise Kept: Baby Bonds Triumph in Connecticut
In 2023, Connecticut became the first state in the country to pass and fully fund Baby Bonds legislation. In this op-ed for Connecticut Post, founding director Darrick Hamilton and Shawn T. Wooden, former treasurer for the state of Connecticut, wrote about the significance of the Connecticut Baby Bonds Trust. Read more >>