Center for Social Development (CSD)

Led by Professor Michael Sherraden, the Brown School’s Center for Social Development (CSD) has been pioneering innovations around the world to create asset-building accounts for children to improve their chance for life success. CSD has defined this policy direction, conducted innovative research, and used the findings to advance the creation of child development accounts in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Israel, and Taiwan.

In 2015, Israel’s parliament passed a law funding long-term savings accounts for all newborns, based on a proposal developed by Professor Michal Grinstein-Weiss. Currently, she continues to lead the evaluation of the law’s implementation. Through a collaboration with the National Insurance Institute of Israel, she and her team analyze how Israeli households make program enrollment and participation decisions.