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Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs) are interventions designed to build educational assets for school-age children. The positive effects of having a CSA has been established for mental health and developmental outcomes, yet no studies to date have examined how CSAs affect children’s physical health. This study uses data from Harold Alfond College Challenge, the oldest and one of the most well-known CSA programs in the United States, to evaluate the association between a CSA and children’s physical health status measured by parent-rated children’s health. Results indicate CSA ownership is associated with a greater chance of reporting excellent or very good health than those families who did not receive a CSA. Implications on research and CSA programs are discussed.

The Great Recession and the unfolding COVID-19 Pandemic Recession-two major disruptions to the economy that occurred just one decade apart-unequivocally confirm the importance of the economy and economic environments for understanding families' financial stress and well-being. However, recent published literature places too little emphasis on the economy and economic environments and instead focuses on explanations rooted within individuals and families. In this article, we review research on families' financial stress and well-being published in JFEI between 2010 and 2019, which analyzed data collected during the Great Recession and were subsequently published in the shadow of the economic downturn. We discuss the economy and economic environments as gaps in the literature and encourage future research to focus on these explanations of stress and well-being, especially in response to the pandemic recession.