Vox: Cory Booker Wants to Give Poor Kids 'Opportunity Accounts'

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is proposing "opportunity accounts" which would give kids from poor families money to be able to build wealth when they become adults, he told Vox in an exclusive interview published Monday.

"It would be a dramatic change in our country to have low-income people break out of generational poverty," Booker told Vox. "We could rapidly bring security into those families' lives, and that is really exciting to me."

The accounts would help those growing up in poverty to make a down payment on a home or pay college tuition, potentially as much as $50,000, according to Vox.

Booker's bill, the American Opportunity Accounts Act, would give each child born in the United States a $1,000 savings account, which will be supplemented by as much as $2,000 annually until the age of 18. The amounts would depend on the child's family income, with poorer families receiving more.

The accounts would be locked until age 18 and able to be used for "asset-building" purchase, Vox reported.

Booker's office estimated the average black child would receive $29,038 by the 18th birthday, while the average Latino child would receive $27,337 and the average white child would accrue $15,790, according to the report.

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