The Case For Giving Poor People Handouts With No Strings Attached

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-case-for-giving-poor-people-handouts-with-no-strings-attached/278770/


Children at the Fkih Tahiri Primary School in Fes on June 1, 2007. ( Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Morocco is one of the more developed countries in Africa, but only about half -- 56 percent -- of its population can read. Most schools there lack electricity, and many don't even have toilets. Most children living in the country's rural areas start primary school, but about 40 percent drop out before finishing six years of primary education. The rudimentary education system makes its mark in the country's test scores: It's ranked 59 out of 69 countries in math and 64 out of 70 on science.

To nudge families to keep their children in school, researchers recently experimented with giving parents in the country's poorest districts small grants of between $8 and $10 per child each month. Some of them were told they'd only get paid if their child attended school regularly, but the others were simply handed money, told nothing, and sent on their way.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that giving out money without any preconditions was more effective than asking families to do something in exchange for their bounty.

"To the extent that conditionality had any impact, it was a negative one," they concluded.

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. Oh no, I'm sure this is a mistake. Without the firm, guiding hand of authority to

put them on the right path, they'll all end up selling their food stamps for crack & Cadillacs.
& R


(Almost forgot)

[xchrom]

2. +1

[HardTimes99]

8. In this age of Poe's Law, the sarcasm icon is obligatory to indicate any kind

of ironic or sarcastic tone.

Poe's law, named after its author Nathan Poe, is an Internet adage reflecting the idea that without a clear indication of the author's intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law

[theHandpuppet]

3. The positive results don't surprise me

If we would stop treating poverty as a moral failing and accept all our fellow travelers in this world with mutual respect and dignity, what a different world this would be, indeed.

[xchrom]

4. indeed. nt

[eggplant]

5. Here in the US, we call those block grants. n/t

[Hestia]

12. But aren't their strings attached with block grants? The funds HAVE to be used for a certain

criteria, such as specific poverty eradication, i.e. health, bring down ozone levels, etc., that the cities state they are going to be used for. Are they just blanket?

[eggplant]

13. Let's find out!

To the wikipedia!

In a fiscal federal form of government, a block grant is a large sum of money granted by the national government to a regional government with only general provisions as to the way it is to be spent. This can be contrasted with a categorical grant which has more strict and specific provisions on the way it is to be spent.

An advantage of block grants is that they allow regional governments to experiment with different ways of spending money with the same goal in mind, though it is very difficult to compare the results of such spending and reach a conclusion. A disadvantage is that the regional governments might be able to use the money if they collected it through their own taxation systems and spend it without any restrictions from above.

[gollygee]

6. I can see this

We treat poor adults like children, and assume they have bad intentions. People often live up, or down, to whatever expectations we place on them.

We need to find a way to help people in a way that maintains their dignity and shows that they have value. People respond well to being treated well.

[abelenkpe]

7. +1000

[Bunnahabhain]

10. I have been saying this for years.

Minimum guaranteed income. Get rid of all the paternalistic programs like food stamps, section 8 housing, etc. and simply give adults money so they can act like adults. Some are going to make bad choices and we have to let them do that to honour their autonomy. Non-poor adults get to make bad choices so I do not see why we should treat the poor like children.

It will also be more efficient. I saw someone above make a crack about trading food stamps for crack...well, there is a black market for trading food stamps into cash. The middle man takes a cut and that's pure dead weight loss. Just give adults a minimum income and let them make their own decisions.

We know the right would never do this (OMG! SOMEONE BOUGHT PORN WITH THEIR TAXPAYER MONEY!) but I sincerely wonder if most on the left have the stones to treat adults like adults.

[MuseRider]

17. Yes Yes Yes

This is exactly correct. Why do we always have to attach so many strings or hoops to jump through. Shame? It certainly seems that way doesn't it? Shame should be directed to those who scream about sharing "what they worked hard for" to help another along. That is where the shame should be if, of course, there needs to be shame at all. Mostly I just walk away. It does little good to talk to those people anymore and I doubt shame would be felt anyway.

[leftstreet]

9. DURec

[HardTimes99]

11. Framing this in terms any American ought to be able to understand:

If you divide the national income of the United States up equally among its citizens and permanent residents, each family of four would receive an annual income of $200,000/year.

Democratic Socialist annotation over, now returning you to your regular programming.

[FarCenter]

14. How did they determin that the unconditional grant program was more effective?

While both versions of the Morocco program -- conditional and unconditional -- helped boost school enrollment figures, the unconditional grants were even more effective at getting kids enrolled and keeping them from dropping out than the kind that came with requirements. It was also cheaper, since administrators didn't need to keep track of students' attendance.

Did they just make up the attendance statistics?

Or does the higher enrollment just include students that are enrolled but attend whenever they want?

[grilled onions]

15. To Have Someone Act With Maturity

they have to be treated with same. Allow a person the choice. We have far too many of the "haves" that either treat adults like kids or with total disrespect. They think adults who do not have $$$ are incapable of making good decisions. They assume if you are not well educated you are incapable of doing things right unless they are told what to do.

[hootinholler]

16. Some would rather spend $40K a year on incarceration

Than $10K a year on assistance.

[theHandpuppet]

18. You nailed it.

There is absolutely no logic to this sorry state of affairs.