Inclusion in the American Dream Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy

Inclusion in the American Dream brings together leading scholars and policy experts on the topic of asset building, particularly as this relates to public policy. The typical American household accumulates most of its assets in home equity and retirement accounts, both of which are subsidized through the tax system. But the poor, for the most part, do not participate in these asset accumulation policies. The challenge is to expand the asset-based policy structure so that everyone is included.

Michael Sherraden in Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development and founding director of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis. Sherraden originated the phrase "asset-based policy," which suggests that social policy and programs should promote not merely income and consumption, but also savings and investment.