Dec 12, 2014 | Public Assistance Asset Limit Reform, Public Policy Blog
In support of Southern’s mission to create economic opportunity and promote financial security, our policy team worked to pass legislation (Act 535 of 2013) during Arkansas’s 89th General Assembly that required the Department of Human Services (DHS) to conduct a study...
Nov 21, 2014 | Poverty and Economic Mobility, Public Policy Blog
In October, the Census Bureau released the poverty rate based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). This snapshot of poverty in America, which varies somewhat from the standard official measure released in September, accounts for regional differences in...
Nov 19, 2014 | Public Policy Blog, The Un- and Underbanked
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) seeking to provide affordable and accessible financial services to Arkansans and Mississippians, a recently released FDIC survey on unbanked and underbanked households in America caught our attention. The study...
Nov 17, 2014 | IDAs and CSAs, Public Policy Blog
Promoting savings as a way of building assets has long been a focus of Southern Bancorp’s work, which is why we were so excited to read CFED President Andrea Levere’s op-ed in last month’s New York Times that highlighted the effectiveness of Children’s Savings...
Oct 24, 2014 | Public Policy Blog
This is National Save for Retirement Week, a national effort to increase personal financial literacy and raise public awareness about the importance of saving for retirement.[1] This week provides an opportunity for employees to reflect on their personal retirement...
Oct 17, 2014 | Past Policy Efforts, Public Policy Blog
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Southern seeks to support efforts focused on housing availability and accessibility for low- and moderate-income families in both Arkansas and Mississippi. We do so because of our belief that affordable housing...
Oct 14, 2014 | Past Policy Efforts, Public Policy Blog
In a national survey, only 33 percent of adults over the age of 50 could correctly answer three questions testing basic knowledge of interest rates, inflation and financial markets. And despite the widespread advertisement and usage of credit cards by young adults,...
Sep 29, 2014 | Past Policy Efforts, Public Policy Blog
Every two years, our partners at CFED (the Corporation for Enterprise Development) host a conference in Washington, D.C. for those who are passionate about expanding economic opportunity in the United States. This conference, the Assets Learning Conference (ALC), took...
Sep 12, 2014 | IDAs and CSAs, Public Policy Blog, Publications
A Case Study on Arkansas and Mississippi Read Policy Points 41 here.
Aug 21, 2014 | Public Policy Blog, Tax-time Savings
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a federal tax credit for low- and moderate-income working people, recognized for its success in promoting work and alleviating poverty as well as offsetting payroll and income taxes. Due to its success, federal policymakers over...
