Socioeconomic Status and Early Savings Outcomes: Evidence from a Statewide Child Development Account Experiment

For every child in the treatment group, SEED OK opened a state-owned OK 529 account and “seeded” it with $1,000.1 Primary caregivers of these treatment children were also encouraged to open their own (private, not state-owned) OK 529 account with the child as benefi ciary. Those who opened a “participantowned” OK 529 account by April 15, 2009, received a $100 account-opening incentive. For about four years, lowand moderate-income treatment families were eligible for additional incentives, in the form of saving matches. Caregivers in the control group did not receive any information from SEED OK about the OK 529, were not eligible for the state-owned OK 529 account, and were not offered any SEED OK fi nancial incentives. However, they could open their own “participant-owned” OK 529 accounts, just as any nonstudy participant can (Zager et al., 2010). | JULY 2012 | CSD PUBLICATION NO. 12-34 |