New York, NY —

The city's Department of Consumer Affairs is trumpeting a savings program that offers cash incentives to low income New Yorkers. The program started last year with over 150 people opening savings accounts. The city provided matching funds of up to $250.

Reid Cramer researches savings programs.

CRAMER: Current policy does a very poor job of helping these families build up small pools of resources especially that they can draw upon flexibly. So there's a real need for short term savings for emergencies.

He says government usually provides incentives for long term savings, such as retirement accounts.

The annual income of participants in the program is under $16,000. They saved an average of $400. The matching funds come from private donors.

The program expanded to over a thousand accounts this year.