Cindy Rodriguez
Cindy Rodriguez has been a staff reporter at WNYC, New York Public Radio since July of 2002. As the station’s urban policy reporter she covers the impacts of poverty on communities in all five boroughs. ...
City Calls Low Income Savings Program a Success
Friday, August 07, 2009
New York, NY –
The city's Department of Consumer Affairs is trumpeting a savings program that offers cash incentives to low income New Yorkers. The program started last year with over 150 people opening savings accounts. The city provided matching funds of up to $250.
Reid Cramer researches savings programs.
CRAMER: Current policy does a very poor job of helping these families build up small pools of resources especially that they can draw upon flexibly. So there's a real need for short term savings for emergencies.
He says government usually provides incentives for long term savings, such as retirement accounts.
The annual income of participants in the program is under $16,000. They saved an average of $400. The matching funds come from private donors.
The program expanded to over a thousand accounts this year.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.