A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned: Advancing Economic Mobility Through Savings

EMP_Savings_Report

As the saying goes, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” but does that penny saved translate into greater economic mobility? Movement up the income ladder is fairly limited for children of low-income parents—42 percent of children born to parents on the bottom rung of the income ladder remain on the bottom rung a generation later. To date, however, there has been less analysis that shows clearly how income mobility differs based on one’s own or one’s parents’ level of savings. This paper clearly demonstrates the relationship between savings and economic mobility.

BY REID CRAMER, ROURKE O’BRIEN, DANIEL COOPER, AND MARIA LUENGO-PRADO (2009).