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Exploring Baby Bonds as a Tool to Improve Economic Security
September 27, 2022 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EDT
On Tuesday, September 27, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with the Office of the State Treasurer for Connecticut and the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School will host an in-person event on the intersection of baby bonds with health, wealth, housing, and education.
Baby bonds are an innovative policy tool that provides children with publicly funded investment accounts that can be accessed at age 18 for specific uses, including education, homeownership, small business, and retirement. The funds are intended as a long-term investment designed to narrow the wealth gap and address generational poverty. As of 2022, eight states and Washington, D.C. have passed legislation to introduce baby bonds programs and supportive strategies that improve economic security.
The event will feature Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden and Dr. Darrick Hamilton, founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, and a conversation on the benefits and challenges of baby bonds programs and effective strategies to link the bonds to other efforts addressing generational poverty.
This in-person event is open to the public and the media. All remarks are on the record and the event will be recorded. The recording will be made available afterwards. For media inquiries, please contact Ellen Simon at Ellen.Simon@ny.frb.org.
Agenda
Reception will follow closing remarks.
3–3:15 pm ET
Welcome
David Erickson, Head of Outreach & Education, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
3:15–3:30 pm ET
Opening Remarks
Shawn T. Wooden, Connecticut State Treasurer
3:30–4:10 pm ET
A National Lens on Baby Bonds
Amara Enyia – President of Transnational Advocacy, Global Black moderator
Darrick Hamilton, Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and Founding Director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School
Todd Howland, Chief of Branch, Development, Economics and Social Rights, at Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations (UN)
Jennifer Ng’andu, Managing Director-Program, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
Scott Winship, Senior Fellow and Director of Poverty Studies, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
4:10–4:25 pm ET
Q&A
4:25–4:30 pm ET
Closing remarks
Dyvonne Body, Community Development Specialist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York