Asset Building & Financial Capability
Abt studies the drivers of economic opportunity. Our insights lead to more effective policies, programs and interventions. How can consumers make better purchasing decisions? What is their experience with credit? How can housing counseling support sustainable homeownership? How can financial literacy programs encourage asset-building? We see answers to questions like these as vital to the well-being of low-, moderate-, and middle-income Americans.
Expertise
- Technical Assistance
- Needs Assessments and Community Engagement
- Program Design and Implementation
- Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening
- Policy, Regulatory, and Agency Support
Clients Include
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Arnold Ventures
National Urban League
National Fair Housing Alliance
Our Work
Evaluation and digital resources for HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, a promising asset-building program for subsidized housing residents
Evaluation partner for two JPMorgan Chase grant competitions to assess outcomes and impacts of economic inequality solutions in neighborhoods and cities
Evaluation of 6,000 study participants across 28 metropolitan areas on how first-time homebuyer education improves their financial health
Our Experts
Principal Associate and Director of Housing and Community Initiatives, Social & Economic Policy
United States
Insights
Lessons from the Window of Opportunity Housing Initiative
Abt evaluated the MacArthur Foundation’s WOO Initiative and found investments in individual entities support affordable housing preservation and development.
How Can State Housing Finance Agencies Improve Energy Efficiency?
Two reports provide insight on ways state housing finance agencies can advance affordable housing through energy efficiency efforts.
Identifying Emergency Rental Assistance Challenges
In two reports, Abt identifies the need for a new formula to calculate funding and slow ramp up as reasons for state Emergency Rental Assistance underspending.
Studying Outcomes of the Low-income Housing Tax Credit program
More than 2 million units of rental housing have been developed through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, making it the largest housing production program in U.S. history. As thousands of properties hit the 15-year mark—ending the…
Preserving, Protecting, and Expanding Affordable Housing: A Policy Toolkit for Public Health
The toolkit provides information on housing market trends and research on the links between rising housing costs and poor health outcomes. It identifies strategies across six policy areas to help ensure that households of all incomes have housing options in the areas where they want to live. The policy areas are preservation, protection, inclusion, revenue generation, incentives, and property acquisition.
Qualitative Study to Enhance the NYCgov Poverty Measure
This report from Abt provides qualitative context to New York City’s poverty data, describing challenges the city’s citizens face.