Baby Bonds Resources

Media Highlights

Baby Bonds and Child Development Accounts Need to Provide Meaningful Funding Amounts to Make a Difference. Where Could the Money Come From?
June 18, 2024

The Urban Institute outlines alternative funding sources for programs like Baby Bonds.

One Way America Can Meaningfully Address Poverty
April 23, 2024

Founding Director Darrick Hamilton and Economic Security Project President and Co-Founder Natalie Foster advocate for wealth-building interventions like Baby Bonds and guaranteed income as a way to combat generational poverty.

American States Are Quietly Embracing the 'Baby Bonds' Revolution to Fight Inequality 
April 8, 2024

The Student Policy Review at Harvard Kennedy School speaks to Baby Bonds as the next revolutionary policy in the social innovation space, crediting Institute Founding Director Darrick Hamilton's research as the impetus behind nation-wide buy-in.

Why This Economist Wants to Give Every Poor Child $50,000 (podcast with transcript)
June 23, 2023

Founding Director Darrick Hamilton converses with Ezra Klein about 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.

A 'Birthright to Capital': An Economist Makes the Case for 'Baby Bonds' (video)
April 29, 2022

Founding Director Darrick Hamilton speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about the power and promise of Baby Bonds.

Economist Hamilton on Baby Bonds and the Wealth Gap (video from Bloomberg Equality Summit)
March 22, 2022

Founding Director Darrick Hamilton discusses the racial wealth gap and his proposal for Baby Bonds with Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman at the Bloomberg Equality Summit.

A Once Radical Idea to Close the Wealth Gap Is Actually Happening
March 17, 2022

In this award-winning profile for Bloomberg, Founding Director Darrick Hamilton explains his pioneering idea—Baby Bonds—and the ways in which U.S. governments are embracing and implementing this “once radical idea."

How "Baby Bonds" Could Help Close the Wealth Gap (video)
September 2018

In this TED Talk, Founding Director Darrick Hamilton discusses how economic security has less to do with what we do and more to do with the wealth position we're born into, and the role Baby Bonds can play in reducing inequality.

Partner Resources

Aspen Institute 

The Case for Early Wealth Building Accounts (March 2023)

Toward A National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (January 2023)

The Bridgespan Group

Boats for a Rising Tide: How Philanthropy Can Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap (May 2024)

This paper looks at five critical drivers of the racial wealth gap in the U.S. and five investable solutions to help close it, including Baby Bonds as a tool for addressing policy-driven inequities in family inheritance.

Connecticut Voices for Children

Supporting the Economic Well-Being of Connecticut's Families and Children: An Overview of CT Baby Bonds (January 2024)

Supporting the Economic Well-Being of Connecticut's Families and Children: An Overview of CT Baby Bonds — Executive Summary (January 2024)

This report provides an overview of economic well-being, outlining the level of support that Connecticut’s families and children require and the urgency of providing that support, and an overview of CT Baby Bonds, including its design and impact and policy options to improve the program.

2023 Legislative Summary (June 2023)

This high-level review of bills supported by Connecticut Voices for Children during the 2023 legislative session includes details about the Connecticut Baby Bonds Trust. 

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (a program of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute)

Take Action to Improve Health: Baby Bonds (September 2023)

The CHR&R program provides data, evidence, guidance, and examples to build awareness of the multiple factors that influence health and support leaders in growing community power to improve health equity. The Rankings are unique in their ability to measure the health of nearly every county in all 50 states, and are complemented by guidance, tools, and resources designed to accelerate community learning and action.

Education Leaders of Color

Policy Agenda (May 2024)

Education Leaders of Color's Policy Agenda includes Baby Bonds as a focus area for investment and funding.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston & John T. Gorman Foundation

The Importance of Wealth to Family Well-Being (May 2023)

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Exploring Baby Bonds as a Tool to Improve Economic Security (September 27, 2022)

Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, this 2022 event featured Founding Director Darrick Hamilton and Senior Advisor Amara Enyia in a series of remarks and conversations exploring the intersection of baby bonds with health, wealth, housing, and education.

Institute for New Economic Thinking

The Baby Formula (February 2024)

In this short video, Institute Founding Director Darrick Hamilton explains how Baby Bonds are more than policy, they're an investment in human potential.

Mom and Baby Action Network | March of Dimes

The Mom and Baby Action Network National Equity Framework Guide

In this guide, over 600 organizational partners, subject matter experts, and community members reviewed data, gathered insights, and developed a shared framework to guide collective efforts for years to come and tackle the complex issues driving inequities for parents, babies, and families across the country, including recommendations to invest in and pursue Baby Bonds.

National Community Reinvestment Coalition

The Racial Wealth Gap 1992 to 2022 (October 2024)

This report uses data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to examine the racial wealth gap between Black, Hispanic, and White families in the U.S., identifying causes, trends, and solutions—including asset-building policies like Baby Bonds.

Prosperity Now 

A Brighter Future with Baby Bonds: How States and Cities Should Invest in Our Kids (January 2022)

Released in partnership with the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, this paper provides guidance and context for elected officials, policymakers, and advocates to help them craft effective state- and local-level Baby Bonds proposals.

Baby Bonds: Landmark Legislation to Address the Growing Racial Wealth Divide (February 2023)

This brief provides a short overview of the American Opportunity Accounts Act, often called the “Baby Bonds Bill,” introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7).

A Birthright to Capital: Equitably Designing Baby Bonds to Promote Economic and Racial Justice (February 2020)

Co-authored by Founding Director Darrick Hamilton, this paper outlines the case for why the U.S. government should provide an account, with up to $60,000 held in public trust, to every one of the four million children born each year in the United States, and why this economic right to wealth, often referred to as a Baby Bond or a Baby Trust, should be calibrated to the economic position of a child’s family.

Urban Institute 

Fact Sheet: Early Life Wealth Building Across the US (September 12, 2024)

This fact sheet covers the current progress of early life wealth building programs and proposals across the U.S. and compares existing programs based on key account distinctions, including initial seed amounts, investment growth, and contribution sources.

Baby Bonds and Child Development Accounts Need to Provide Meaningful Funding Amounts to Make a Difference. Where Could the Money Come From? (June 18, 2024)

This article looks at the target amounts for Baby Bonds and other early-life wealth-building programs and considers their various funding sources, including private and philanthropic contributions.

What Do We Know About Baby Bonds? (August 2023)

This 2023 report provides a literature review of three simulation studies that model the potential impacts of baby bonds, with a focus on outcomes relating to racial wealth equity. The authors also review the literature of related early life wealth-building programs (e.g., child development accounts) to assess outcomes that may be achievable with baby bonds policies.

The State of Baby Bonds (February 2023)

This early 2023 brief includes a useful overview of the current policy environment, Baby Bonds implementation and impact, and a state-by-state report on progress.

Baby Bonds in Context: A Systems Approach to Closing the Racial Wealth Gap (August 3, 2022)

In 2022, Urban Institute hosted this discussion on Baby Bonds initiatives, policy progress, and implementation strategies. 

As Baby Bonds Gain Momentum, States Must Grapple with These Four Implementation Questions (July 11, 2022)

This blog provides a useful breakdown of the four primary implementation questions being addressed in states where Baby Bonds legislation is gaining traction.

Research Articles

Health Affairs Scholar
Health and Political Economy: Building a New Common Sense in the United States
May 6, 2024

This article by Victor Roy, Darrick Hamilton, and Dave A. Chokshi of the Health and Political Economy Project at the Institute lays out why a political economy lens is critical for building a new common sense, rooted in new infrastructures and investments like Baby Bonds, in the face of persistent health inequities and stagnating life expectancy in the U.S.

JAMA Health Forum
An Asset Framework to Guide Nonhealth Policy for Population Health
May 2, 2024

This article identifies three types of assets that unlock access to resources and shape population health—financial assets, physical assets, and social assets—and discusses how specific nonhealth interventions, including Baby Bonds, can be used to improve the health of populations.

Center for Social Development
Wealth Building for All Children: Convergence and Evidence to Support a Nationwide Policy
April 2024

This brief reviews consensus around early-life wealth-building policies as potential remedies for wealth inequality, including research from CSD’s SEED for Oklahoma Kids Child Development Accounts experiment, to outline the parameters for an inclusive, efficient, and effective federal early-life wealth-building policy.

JAMA Internal Medicine
Wealth Redistribution to Extend Longevity in the U.S.
January 29, 2024

This research article published by Kathryn E. W. Himmelstein and co-authors used modeling to show that Baby Bonds could "markedly narrow the racial mortality gap" by increasing overall American life expectancy at midlife by one year and increasing longevity for the poorest Americans by 6.4 years.

The Public Purpose Journal
The American Opportunity Accounts Act: How Baby Bonds Can Transform The Racial Wealth Gap
Spring 2022

This publication by Sarah Edwards outlines how the American Opportunity Act, which includes Baby Bonds as a policy proposal, can narrow the racial wealth gap.

Morningstar
Can Baby Bonds Shrink the Racial Wealth Gap?
October 6, 2020

This 2020 research article by Aron Szapiro dives into Baby Bonds as a policy solution to shrinking the racial wealth gap.

Morningstar
Baby Bonds: Income-Based Program Designs Show Promise for Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
September 2020

The Review of Black Political Economy
Universal Baby Bonds Reduce Black-White Wealth Inequality, Progressively Raise Net Worth of All Young Adults
November 6, 2019

Published in The Review of Black Political Economy, this 2019 research article by Institute partner Dr. Naomi Zwede highlights the impact Baby Bonds might have had if implemented 20 years ago.

The Review of Black Political Economy
Can 'Baby Bonds' Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America?
January 1, 2010

In this seminal research article, Founding Director Darrick Hamilton and William Darity, Jr. outline the Baby Bonds model as an innovative policy tool to address the racial wealth gap.

Books

The New Press
The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy
April 2024

Baby Bonds are one of several economic “guarantees” that author Natalie Foster, president and co-founder of Economic Security Project, discusses in this inspiring book that “asks us to imagine the economy we deserve.” The Institute's own Darrick Hamilton offers this review: "Across the pages of The Guarantee Natalie blends brilliance, warmth, and fierce focus to instill an optimistic confidence that America can choose a better path towards economic and racial justice. The world needs The Guarantee."

MIT Press
The Myth That Made Us
September 2023

Authored by Jeff Fuhrer, an economist, former senior leader at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and currently a Nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, this book examines how false narratives about the role of race and “the self-made man” have been used to create and condone an economy that doesn’t work for everyone. Outlining a path forward, Fuhrer highlights Baby Bonds as part of a suite of solutions that can help address the accumulated loss of wealth among Black people and other groups. Fuhrer credits Darrick Hamilton for expanding his thinking that there’s more to the wealth gap than income, savings, and hard work.

Seal Press
Black Women, Black Love: America's War on African American Marriage
October 2020

Authored by Dianne Stewart, this book discusses Baby Bonds as an important policy consideration to counter the effects of centuries of oppressive law, policy, and customs on Black love and marriage in the U.S.