The University of Birmingham’s Centre on Household Savings and Management (CHASM) is working on a project focused on creating a new savings manifesto. The project aims to kick-start a renewed national and local debate on the importance of a coherent savings framework, to help lower-income households build up a financial cushion and a greater level of financial resilience. A savings manifesto will be published in early Autumn.
A briefing paper was produced ahead of the University’s May conference which aimed to:
- Understand the savings needs of low-income households, both regionally and nationally
- Gain learning from local and national practitioners and policy makers
- Develop a prioritised list of proposals which could feed into the savings manifesto
The paper also looks at other key issues for the project to consider including:
- Savings policy initiatives that have been introduced over the last few years, particularly for lower income households
- Looking at the purpose of savings for lower income households and asking a number of key questions, such as what are savings used for
- What people can expect to see from a new savings agenda
- The challenge facing low income households to be able to save (1 in 5 of the bottom income decile were only able to save “now and then”)
- Building on the variety of savings schemes and policy measures that already exist, like Help to Save
- The role of social landlords and the idea that money could be deducted from rent into a savings account
- Looking at what savings schemes are available on the market now and what alternatives could be.