HomeAbout UsFunding OpportunitiesFormsBusiness with CSREESNewsroomHelpContact Us
Search CSREES
Advanced Search
Browse by Subject
Agricultural & Food Biosecurity
Agricultural Systems
Animals & Animal Products
Biotechnology & Genomics
Economics & Commerce
Education
Families, Youth, & Communities
Food, Nutrition, & Health
International
Natural Resources & Environment
Pest Management
Plant & Plant Products
Technology & Engineering
You are here: Home / Newsroom / Newsletters / Family Economics News - June 2006

Family Economics News - June 2006

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) works with land-grant university partners and others to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities through national program leadership and Federal assistance. Among the Agency’s goals is to support increased economic opportunities and quality of life in rural areas. Family economics aligns with this goal by focusing on how individuals and families obtain and use resources such as money, time, human capital, material resources, and community services; by exploring the relationship between individuals and families and the larger economy; and by studying the impact of public issues, policies, and programs on family economic well-being.

Research/Program Evaluation

  • Immigrant Financial Integration
  • Telemarketing Fraud and Internet Scams Increasing

Education/Extension

  • Investor's University
  • Go Direct

Resources

  • ERS State Fact Sheets
  • NASD Investor Education Newsletter
  • PayDay Loan Consumer Information
  • The Marriage Calculator

Opportunities

  • Call for Papers:
    • Journal of Personal Finance
    • Journal of Youth Development
    • Financial Counseling and Planning
    • Journal of Family and Economic Issues/Consumer Finances
    • Community Affairs Conference (Federal Reserve)
    • 21st Century Families Conference
    • The Future Urban Agenda Conference
  • Funding:
    • NASD Investor Education Foundation
    • NRI - Nutrition and Obesity
    • Learn and Serve America
    • Assets for Independence
    • National Endowment for Financial Education
    • Administration for Children and Families

Calendar

Mailbox

The likelihood of being "unbanked" is high for immigrants with little education, a poverty-level income, or those from a large family. Upon arrival in the United States, immigrants immediately face such financial decisions and transactions as cashing payroll checks, paying living expenses, and sending money to family members back in their home country. To understand immigrant financial integration, it is important to analyze their participation in the financial mainstream. The entire article is published in the summer 2006 edition of The Journal of Consumer Affairs.

The number of fraud victims increased in 2005, as reported in a 2006 National Consumers League (NCL) Bulletin. Increases have occurred in Internet fraud regarding wire transfers of money and in Internet scams such as Nigerian money offers. The average loss to telemarketing fraud rose from $1,974 in 2004 to $2,892 last year and Internet fraud more then doubled, from an average of $895 in 2004 to $1,917 in 2005. The number of telemarketing scams reported rose by 39 percent, Internet fraud reports by 12 percent. Another Internet scam on the rise is bogus offers of scholarships and grants from the government. For more information, visit Fraud.org or e-mail info@nclnet.org.

Top

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, AARP Alabama, and the Alabama Securities Commission initiated in 2005 a statewide partnership to promote personal finance and investment education for Alabama citizens between 50 to 65 years of age. Each series of programs is referred to as an "Investor's University." A grant request from the Alabama Securities Commission to the Investor's Protection Trust (IPT) and AARP funds the Investor’s University series. The majority of the participants stated the University was helpful because it enabled them to determine what they need to do to achieve financial security in retirement. Plans are underway to host the last Investor's University for urban populations in September 2006. More information is available about the 2005 Investor University programs.

Go Direct is a national campaign, sponsored by the Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve Banks, to motivate people who receive such Federal benefit checks as Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to enroll in direct deposit. Enrolling in direct deposit can offer much-needed peace of mind to people who rely on Federal benefits, most of whom are seniors and people with disabilities. Direct deposit eliminates the risk of stolen checks and forgeries and helps protect people from identity theft. It also gives people more control over their money and allows immediate access to funds from virtually anywhere. Supplement your financial literacy efforts with Go Direct messaging and materials (including flyers, fact sheets, videos, and more). Go Direct also offers check recipients some easy ways to sign up for direct deposit. To order by phone, call 800-333-1795. To order materials, and find out how you can get started with Go Direct, call the Go Direct partner hotline at 952-346-6055, or visit Go Direct (English) or Directo A Su Cuenta (Spanish).

Top

The ERS State Fact Sheets contain frequently requested data for each state and for the total United States. These include current data on population, per-capita income, earnings per job, poverty rates, employment, unemployment, farm and farm-related jobs, farm characteristics, farm financial characteristics, top agricultural commodities, top export commodities, and the top counties in agricultural sales. The updated State Fact Sheets include per capita income and earnings per job estimates for 2004, as well as the 2005 population and unemployment estimates and County-level lookup tables for the population and unemployment estimates. Fact sheets are available on the ERS website.

The NASD Investor Education Foundation's mission is to provide investors with high quality, easily accessible information and tools to better understand the markets and the basic principles of financial planning. The foundation provides information for the awarding of grants to fund educational and research programs, maintains a resource center, a FAQ site, and the NASD Investor Education Foundation Newsletter, which gives access to all of these resources. Newsletter Subscriptions are available through the NASD Investor Education site.

The Consumer Federation of America launched the PayDay Loan Consumer Information Web site to help consumers and policymakers combat extremely expensive check-based lending. Payday loans are small cash loans, secured by the borrower's personal check, and paid in full on the borrower's next payday. The consumer information provided includes the basic facts on how payday loans work, industry information, the legal status of payday lending and key features of State laws and regulations in all 50 States.

The Department of Health and Human Services has developed The Marriage Calculator. The Web-based tool can calculate the "cost of marriage" for a specific couple in a specific State - how welfare programs and tax policies might interact to create penalties and/or incentives and how they differ across States and across different income and family structures. The Urban Institute, under contract to ACF, developed this new Web-based tool.

Top

  • NASD Investor Education Foundation - The NASD Investor Education Foundation has released its 2006 grants application process for Applying Financial Theory to Improve Life-Cycle Investing. Proposal deadline is July 14, 2006.

  • NRI - Nutrition and Obesity - The 2006 CSREES National Research Initiative includes a call for proposals on Human Nutrition and Obesity.  Interdisciplinary efforts to understand behaviors associated with lifestyle choices leading to optimum health and weight, including a household’s propensity to save, are encouraged. The proposal deadline is June 15, 2006.

  • 2006 Learn & Serve America - A Community-Based Grant Program - Non-profits, tribal governments and organizations, and higher education institutions can apply for 16 anticipated awards in the range of $350,000 to $500,000 for community development, jobs and training, and other activities that promote the development and sustainability of community-based service-learning programs in youth-serving organizations.

  • Assets for Independence - The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, has announced funding opportunities through the Assets for Independence Federal Grant Program. This program enables agencies to implement an asset-based approach for giving low-income families assistance out of poverty. Closing deadline is June 15, 2006.

  • National Endowment for Financial Education(NEFE®) - The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE®) invites researchers to submit grant proposals whose outcomes contribute to the body of knowledge in financial education and literacy. Project ideas that offer innovative and actionable financial education solutions will receive special consideration. NEFE’s Board met recently and approved a re-designed grant program. A component of the re-design includes a more streamlined application process. Researchers are encouraged to submit a two-page Concept Inquiry by June 19, 2006.

    Inquiries of particular interest to the foundation will be directly relevant to outcomes of a national symposium NEFE® conducted last fall titled “Closing the Gap between Knowledge and Behavior: Turning Education into Action.” Learn more about the grants program and symposium outcomes at the NEFE® Web site. Click on the “NEFE Grants Program tab of the “Grantmaking” section. Download the symposium white paper by clicking on the “Research & Strategy” tab of the Innovative Thinking action area.

  • Administration for Children and Families - The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Family Assistance, announced the availability of funds for Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants. These grants will support innovative projects designed to strengthen existing marriages and to prepare unmarried couples for successful healthy marriages. ACF will use the grant program to fund healthy marriage education and enrichment activities, public awareness and education campaigns that promote the benefits and elements of healthy marriage, and teen programs that explore positive relationship models and that teach the core skills necessary for healthy marriages. Deadline for applications is June 30, 2006.

Top

Top

  • CSREES Contact: Jane Schuchardt, National Program Leader, CSREES-USDA
  • National Initiative “Financial Security in Later Life” Contact: Nancy M. Porter, Family Resource Management Specialist, Clemson University
  • Financial Literacy for Youth Contact: Erica Tobe, Program Leader for Financial Literacy & Housing, Michigan State University
  • Financial Security for All eXtension Contact: Debra Pankow, Family Economics Specialist, North Dakota State University

Back issues of Family Economics News are available.

To summit items for consideration for this newsletter, contact Jim Terry, Program Analyst, CSREES-USDA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

Last Updated: 07/25/2007