Asset -ownership among low -income and low -wealth individuals: Opportunity, stakeholding, and civic engagement

This dissertation addresses the effects of asset-ownership on civic engagement. A social development theory is tested: if those of low-income and low-wealth have the opportunity to increase their asset-ownership and they do, then their civic engagement will increase. Opportunity and stakeholding through asset-ownership (e.g., financial savings, homeownership, and small business ownership) are conceived as influencing incentives and information for social and political engagement. The intervention tested is Individual Development Accounts (IDA), a matched savings program for the poor. It is hypothesized that opportunity or IDA participation and increased asset-ownership have direct effects on civic engagement, and that opportunity moderates the effects of asset-ownership. Data are from an IDA randomized experiment. Research methods are a repeated measures survey (18 month interval) with 933 respondents and in-depth interviews with 59 IDA participants and 25 controls.;Using survey data, logistic regression assesses the effects of opportunity and asset-ownership on 11 civic behaviors, controlling for age, race/ethnicity, monthly income, receipt of means-tested income, and the given civic behavior at time 1. There are no statistically significant moderating effects. However, increased asset-ownership is a statistically significant predictor of social engagement through children, including attending school events (those whose total asset value increased are more likely), helping with a school fundraiser (new homeowners are more likely), and attending a PTA/PTO meeting (new business owners are more likely).;In-depth interview findings operationalize the concept of opportunity, with IDA participants attributing the IDA to a chance to increase their capabilities and improve their well-being and construing it as an investment in them. Respondents describe a range of civic behaviors through church and community organizations primarily, and they identify lack of time and family demands as mediators of engagement.;While tentative, these findings indicate that increased asset-ownership may be associated with civic engagement, suggesting implications for civic research, asset-based policy, and social work. Additional research is needed regarding the measurement and effects of asset-ownership, in general, and as a variable of concern in the study of civic engagement.