Public and private leaders have a substantial, and widely overlooked, opportunity today to help lower income families get ahead by bringing down the inflated prices they pay for basic necessities, such as food and housing.
For families struggling to make ends meet on earnings from low-wage jobs, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has become an essential form of support, boosting the size of annual tax refunds by as much as several thousand dollars. The program is widely recognized for its accessibility (working through the tax code and tax filing system), administrative efficiency and simplicity, and its effectiveness in lifting working poor house- holds out of poverty. Why then shouldn't the EITC serve as a model for other programs for working families, particularly in parts of the country where high costs of living create added difficulties for lower-income residents?
While some neighborhoods in American cities are resurgent, many others remain stubbornly entrenched in a cycle of underinvestment. A contributing factor is that—despite thriving immigrant populations, high volumes of cash transactions, and relatively stable housing markets—these neighborhoods are victims of an urban information gap which undervalues their commercial potential. The importance of good information for private and public investments is widely acknowledged, but fragmented funding, lack of standards, and spotty data has impeded either effective or universal use of these tools. This paper sets forth seven steps for practitioners and investors to follow in investing in local community information initiatives and, in turn, close the urban information gap and accelerate investment in these markets.
Low-income residents of Washington, DC are in poorer health and have less access to regular medical care than more affluent residents. A citywide community health worker program could increase primary care visits among low-income residents, improve their health and reduce potentially avoidable emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Community health workers (CHWs) are well-trained community members whose backgrounds are similar to those they serve, and who provide health education, links to health services, and support in managing health conditions. CHWs serve communities with cultural, linguistic, or economic barriers to health care services. A growing body of research suggests that CHW programs improve access to primary and preventive care, reduce emergency department overcrowding, and are cost-effective.
Low-income residents of Washington, DC have poorer health outcomes and less access to primary care than more affluent residents of the city. Residents in low-income areas of the city are less likely to have insurance and a regular doctor, are more likely to have chronic health problems, and are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that should not result in hospitalization if treated early and effectively in a primary care setting.
David de Ferranti, Anthony J. Ody, Nick Warren, Justin Jacinto, and Charles Griffin
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The struggle against global poverty may be about to get an important boost from an unexpected quarter. All too often, wellintentioned development programs have been undermined in the past by inefficiency, wrongheaded priorities, and outright graft. It is crucial to enhance the effectiveness of developing countries' public spending on social goals. The public sector, however, cannot, in general, be relied upon to reform itself in isolation. The pressure of informed domestic public opinion is a crucial stimulus.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Globalization, and Poverty
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
It should be a cause for celebration that over 1.6 million people in the poorest parts of the world are now on antiretroviral treatment to halt the advance of HIV. But in a rush to improve access mistakes have been made. These mistakes, many of which were predictable, will be costly in terms of money and lives as drug resistance accelerates and more advanced (second-line) drugs may be unaffordable in poor countries.
Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University
Abstract:
This paper investigates how estimates of the extent and trend of consumption poverty in China between 1990 and 2001 vary as a result of alternative plausible assumptions concerning the poverty line and estimated levels of consumption. The exercise is motivated by the existence of considerable uncertainty about the appropriate poverty lines to apply and the level and distribution of resources in China. The methodology of this paper focuses on the following sources of variation: alternative purchasing power parity conversion factors (used to convert an international poverty line), alternative estimates of the level and distribution of private incomes, alternative estimates of the propensity to consume of lower income groups, and alternative consumer price indices. It is widely believed that substantial poverty reduction has taken place in China in the 1990s, and we find this conclusion to be robust to the choice of assumptions. However, estimates of the extent of Chinese poverty in any year are greatly influenced by the assumptions made. China's record of reducing consumption poverty is dramatic. It is unclear whether this achievement has been comparable across regions and whether there have been corresponding national improvements in other aspects of human well-being.
I shall try to describe the importance of establishing links between short term and long-term projects intended to reduce poverty, illustrating these issues with the recent experiences of São Paulo, Brazil. I shall start with a short commentary on mobile societies, the global economy and the meaning of sustainable development. As our main and final aim is the elimination of poverty and not just its reduction, I shall then outline the links between long-term objectives and urgent short-term strategies. Finally, I will reflect upon poverty reduction efforts undertaken in São Paulo by Mayor Marta Suplicy during her 2001-2004 term when I served as Planning Secretary. Based on this experience, I shall propose some topics for the research agenda on poverty and urbanization.
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
This paper attempts to demonstrate the relevance of the historical method and the importance of identifying long-term globalizing patterns in understanding the military-industrial transformation and militarization of South Asia. Out of this particular historical matrix would flow the events of 9/11, as well as ongoing developments in the global 'war on terror', fought out in the wider periphery of South Asia.