Pew Testifies Before D.C. Council Committee on Health Implications of ‘Baby Bonds’

Research on links between wealth and health status informs lawmakers ahead of bill vote

Pew Testifies Before D.C. Council Committee on 'Baby Bonds'

On May 25, Stefanie Carignan, a senior associate with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Health Impact Project, testified in Washington at a public hearing of the D.C. Council’s Business and Economic Development Committee about the project’s findings on the potential health effects of Bill 24-0236, the Child Wealth Building Act of 2021. The bill would automatically provide a D.C. government-sponsored trust fund, or “baby bond,” for babies born into low- and moderate-income households. Her remarks emphasized the connections between wealth and health status and the bill’s potential impacts on the city’s racial wealth gap.