 asset building cranc has joined with many groups across the country in framing in social policy through the lens of assets asset policies acknowledge the protective effect that wealth confers upon a family assets form a kind of moat against emergencies accountants define an asset as something with worth in the future this interpretation goes beyond just financial vehicles and includes housing education and other social goods cranc participates in the north carolina ida and asset building collaborative  this partnership of nonprofits government and university researchers seek to develop policies that encourage savings and asset accumulation in north carolina families north carolina ranks in the bottom tier of states according to the latest assets and opportunities scorecard published by cfed  this owes to north carolina s lagging performance in several areas we rank 48th in per pupil spending we rank last in the percentage of children in poverty who are in head start we rank 43rd in the percentage of households with noninterest bearing checking accounts asset policy is often buttressed by some of the same findings that underpin the need for better access to housing they both turn on research that shows that turning america into an opportunity society depends upon addressing inequalities in access to many of the regular institutions that make up everyday life consider a few facts 70 percent of lowincome neighborhoods do not have a single bank or credit union  there is more of gap among races in terms of assets than in terms of income the average white family in north carolina earns 18 times more than the average africanamerican family but has ten 10 times more in assets  almost one in three of north carolina s children live in a home with fewer than three months of savings defaultcranclog0png  educationmedia  