Startup funds would help kids prepare for their future

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of stories in which we asked UB faculty mem­bers to think big: If they had unlimited time, money and persuasion techniques, what audacious idea from their fields would they want to implement today?

Reprinted from At Buffalo

The problem: Economic inequality

The big idea: Give all children a development account for their future.

Yunju Nam is an associate professor of social work.

We know that eco­nomic inequality is a problem and it contin­ues to get worse. One reason is that parents in lower- or even middle-income families don’t have the economic resources they need for their children to prepare for their future.

For example, kids from poor families have trouble starting new businesses, even if they have a great idea. They simply don’t have the startup funds. Many kids would benefit from college educations, but we all know how expensive they are.

I propose that every child be given an account at birth — at the same time that they get a Social Security number — that they can use to invest in their future. They would start with some amount of money, maybe enough for a year of community college, and then they, their family members and their friends could add to it over time. I would pair that account with strong financial education.

The key isn’t just that people have money that they can use when they’re young adults — it’s also that they and their parents can dream about the future in a different way. Maybe they decide to get a car so they can get to a job, or use it as part of a down payment on a house.

It’s important to give them a lot of flexibility because we just don’t know how society will change over the course of 18 years or what will be most important.

We need to give them the power to make — and learn from — their own decisions.