Child Development Accounts in the COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons from the Great Recession

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an economic downturn that will likely be worse than the Great Recession, especially for financially vulnerable households. Child Development Accounts (CDAs) were rigorously tested in the 2008-09 recession and produced positive financial and family results. Likewise, CDAs can be expected to have positive impacts on children in financially vulnerable households during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. To confront this health and economic crisis, this research and policy report examines how CDA research from the previous recession can inform a new kind of social policy to address the current one. The report draws from in-person interviews to provide perspectives from the people affected by the Great Recession, in their own voices. It summarizes findings and recommendations from CDA research to offer policy solutions to invest in the long-term development of all children and families