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learn$ave Project: Final ReportThe role of community organizations seemed essentialin reaching the target clientele and supporting it throughoutthe process. This was particularly true in terms ofproviding assistance to participants at the sign up andcash-out stages, which were seen as onerous from a paperburden perspective.This is not to suggest that efficiency gains cannot berealized by streamlining the IDA delivery model. Forinstance, bundling the IDA offer with the informationsystems associated with existing social programs could facilitatesign-up by generating a pool to recruit individualsfrom and by reducing the need to check certain eligibilitycriteria and to collect information already gathered by thehost program. Permitting electronic deposits into the IDAand automatic transfers from other income sources couldalso be attractive to participants. There would also begains from increasing flexibility on the timing and otheraspects of the cash-out process, from using administrativestructures of existing student financial assistanceprograms, and from optimizing collaboration between thefinancial and educational institutions, including sendingmoney directly to the latter.Saving outcomesThis project demonstrated that low-income Canadians,even those on income assistance, can save. This findingcontrasts with concerns expressed by critics of assetbuildingapproaches that low-income populations do nothave resources to allow any savings at all. Low-incomeCanadians recruited into learn$ave did make muchuse of the accounts and financial incentives offered bythe project. Nearly all opened an account, most savedsomething and indeed average deposits amountedto about $1,100 over three years, and most used thematched credits. The analysis further showed that savingsand matched credit use did not vary by income level andfinancial constraints. However, the results also showedthat many participants took full advantage of the programto quickly earn and use all their credits; many of thesewould likely have been able to so without learn$aveassistance. Conversely, there was a sizable number ofparticipants who did not use all the credits they did earn,suggesting life circumstances can interfere with attainingone’s goals.The learn$ave project also showed that a matchedsaving program can be effective in promoting regularsaving behaviour and financial integration among lowincomepeople. This was done by the saving match andthe requirement to save a minimum amount each monthfor 12 months to qualify for credits and to open and makedeposits in an account in a financial institution. As well,the project showed that such a program can be successfulin encouraging low-income people to budget and setfinancial goals and to alter their household spending andother expenditure patterns and to do so without incurringundue financial hardship, which is a distinct risk whenpeople with scarce resources are offered a generoussaving subsidy.The research showed as well that IDA programparameters can play a role in saving performance. Raisingthe saving match rate increased saving regularity andthe amount saved, though at a declining rate past a 3 to 1matching rate. Increasing the match cap — the maximumamount qualifying for the saving match — also positivelyaffect the amount saved. Reducing the length of the savingperiod — the period during which IDA savings qualifiedfor matches — impacted positively on saving regularitybut had no influence on savings level.One of the original ideas behind the concept ofasset-building initiatives like the learn$ave IDA is thatthe accumulation of assets confers on holders a numberof financial and psychological benefits that eventuallyenable them to enjoy greater economic well being. Whilethe project revealed the learn$ave IDA experience didhave a positive effect on life satisfaction, no impacts wererecorded on average net worth. While learn$ave programgroups increased their financial assets at the beginning ofthe project, these increases disappeared at the end of thelearn$ave period.Impacts on education enrolment and small-businessstart-upsA program like learn$ave would enable a significantnumber of low-income Canadians to achieve adult educationobjectives who would not have done so otherwise.While many people interested in education would enrolin education courses and programs even without an IDAprogram, such a program could still increase the level ofparticipation in PSE programs by over 20 per cent. Theproject showed that impacts on education enrolmentwere widespread, occurring for those who were at thelowest and highest educational levels, who were in thelowest income bracket, or who were not regular savers.The high rate of education enrolment of control groupmembers also points to the value of a control group inmeasuring effectiveness of programs, without which theimpacts would have been vastly over-estimated.The project also proved that a program like learn$avecould be used to increase small business start-ups. Thematched credits had a beneficial impact on the incidenceof self-employment among those in the micro-enterprisesaving stream. As well, positive effects were observed on104 | Chapter 9 Social Research and Demonstration Corporation