Helping the poor build assets
Assets are at the core of households’ strategies to survive, meet future needs,
improve their lot, reduce exposure to shocks or minimize their consequences. And
despite being constrained by limited income and few adequate saving mechanisms, the
poor do save: prior to the peso crisis, the savings rate of the very poor (as proxied by
education) was around 6 percent, increasing by about one percentage point if consumer
durables are included1. This is clearly much less than better off households with savings
rate more than twice that amount, nonetheless, it does confirm that the poor do save
even in the face of limited resources and savings instruments. The three main ways in
which the poor hold their assets are consumer durables, housing and cash or financial
savings. Workfare is one common approach commonly used —indeed Mexico has one
such program operating in rural areas (PET).