Baby Bonds: Funding New Jersey’s Future

Abstract

Baby Bonds have the potential to play a key role in reducing the racial wealth gap and creating a more equitable future for New Jersey. The racial wealth gap was created by generations of discriminatory policies and practices, and closing it will require a range of policy solutions working together. The establishment of a Baby Bonds program in New Jersey is a critical move toward achieving equity for future generations in one of the most unequal states. Investing in Baby Bonds will empower young people across the state to reach their full potential while addressing wealth disparities. It is time for New Jersey to both design and invest in a new system that connects the next generation of Black and other people of color to its vast prosperity. New Jersey owes it to future generations to be as intentional in connecting them to wealth as it was about separating them from it at its founding.