Clinton proposes ‘baby bonds’: $5,000 accounts for every child

washington -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 “baby bond” from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home.

Clinton, her party’s front-runner in polls in the 2008 race, made the suggestion during a forum hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

“I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18, if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that down payment on their first home,” she said.

The New York senator did not offer any estimate of the cost of such a program or how to pay for it. About 4 million babies are born each year in the U.S.

Clinton said such a program would help people get back to the tradition of savings that she remembers as a child, and has diminished in the face of rising college and housing costs.