For that transition to happen, large numbers of welfare recipients will need to be assisted in acquiring the skills necessary to function in the work environment and will need health care, child care, and transportation assistance. We need only look at the low unemployment rate and the continuing high poverty rate to realize that work alone does not provide an avenue out of poverty. The report highlights investments states can make to increase income and make asset development possible. Only when earnings exceed the cost of basic necessities and policies allow poor families to acquire assets, without disenfranchising them from income support programs, will poor working families make progress toward permanently moving out of poverty. While job earnings move families toward self-sufficiency, opening the door to acquiring assets is the key to their achieving economic security.
Assets are an insurance against financial uncertainty and a way of preparing for future expenses.
Accumulated assets may be in the form of human capacity building, financial savings, or personal investments. Obtaining these assets allows families to move past temporary financial set backs to achieve greater economic independence and stability. This report begins by exploring states' investments in income and asset policies that impact those who are on welfare and those who are transitioning off. Together such policies open the door for state investments in poor families that do more than move people off welfare.