ABSTRACT
The countries that have implemented Child Development Accounts (CDAs) vary widely by geographic location, population size, culture and history, social and economic development, political institutions, and social welfare policy design. However, in a globalized, information-era economy, they all share the challenge of promoting social development. Despite their financial benefits, CDAs are not a solely economic intervention. They purposefully link asset accumulation and financial investment to both short- and long-term social development outcomes. Expanding CDAs and positive effects to all children, and making them long lasting, will require a safe, stable, and efficient policy model. Most policy research focuses on individual outcomes, without considering the details about how the policy is shaped and implemented. Experiences and lessons from CDA implementation offer practitioners a footing for bottom-up approaches to grow local CDA programs into a general social policy.
