TAF PUBLISHING

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of encouraging low-income parents to save for their children through a savings program offered in public schools. Since children’s savings have long-lasting effects on college entrance and graduation rates, this paper looked specifically at the relationship between parents’ savings values and whether they opened a savings account for their child. A convenience sampling design was used to recruit schools for this study. A total of 17 public elementary schools was recruited for this study with a sample of 1,764 respondents. The survey instrument used in this study consisted of 13 four-point Likert scaled items and 13 other short answers, multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions. Covariates including individual characteristics of the parents and household characteristics were examined to see if they were significantly related to whether or not a child’s savings account was opened. Implications of the findings concerning early intervention work with parents are discussed, as are recommendations for future research with low-income families.