September 22, 2020

‘Asset Building Early in Life and Matched Savings’ is a project led by Associate Professor Chia Ngee Choon (NUS Department of Economics) and Associate Professor Corinne Ghoh (NUS Department of Social Work). A key component of the project will be to analyse matched savings programs and other similar programs that incentivise saving. A matched savings program will match the amount of savings deposited into an account, for up to a maximum set amount. It aims to encourage the habit of saving from a young age and impart financial literacy to children and parents from low-income households.

A panel survey will be implemented to identify parents’ saving attitudes and investigate the extent of participation in the matched savings program. The survey will also help answer questions on whether early savings in life help to promote a child’s holistic development, improve parental behaviours, increase parents’ investment in children and increase parents’ expectation for their child’s educational accomplishment. Subsequently, a randomized control trial will help the team evaluate the impact of asset-building from matched savings on children’s development during Primary School.

Through this, the project aims to understand what increases the likelihood to save and the conflicting behaviour and attitudes that would affect saving rates amongst children’s parents from low-income households. Eventually, this will help inform policymakers how to design an asset-based social protection programme that benefits children from low-income households.