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Do not fill this in! ==Poverty reduction {{anchor|Reduction}}== {{main|Poverty reduction}} {{see also|Aid|Development aid}} {{duplication|section=yes|dupe=Poverty reduction|date=January 2023|discuss=Talk:Poverty reduction#Duplication}} [[File:Sustainable Development Goal 01NoPoverty.svg|thumb|Logo of the [[Sustainable Development Goal 1]] of the United Nations, to "end poverty in all its forms, everywhere" by 2030<ref name=":172">United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, [[:File:A RES 71 313 E.pdf|Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development]] ([https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 A/RES/71/313] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023121826/https://undocs.org/A/RES/71/313 |date=23 October 2020 }})</ref>]] Various poverty reduction strategies are broadly categorized based on whether they make more of the basic human needs available or whether they increase the [[disposable income]] needed to purchase those needs.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dalglish C. and M. Tonelli |title=Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of the Pyramid |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-138-84655-5}}</ref> Some strategies such as building roads can both bring access to various basic needs, such as fertilizer or healthcare from urban areas, as well as increase incomes, by bringing better access to urban markets.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Thomas W. |title=Poverty, policy, and public transportation |journal=Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice |date=1 June 2008 |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=833–841 |doi=10.1016/j.tra.2008.01.011 |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=fac7e9f6807c4c29319647a2ed79cf0395b3e5c9 |access-date=24 February 2023 |language=en |issn=0965-8564}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Hernández |first1=Diego |url=https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/publication/files/42665/RVI122_Hernandez.pdf |title=Public transport, well-being and inequality: coverage and affordability in the city of Montevideo |date=2017-08-01 |publisher=CEPAL Review |issue=122}}</ref> Reducing relative poverty would also involve reducing [[Wealth inequality|inequality]]. [[Oxfam]], among others,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inequality and Poverty – OECD |url=https://www.oecd.org/social/inequality-and-poverty.htm |access-date=2023-02-23 |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]}}</ref> has called for an international movement to end extreme wealth concentration arguing that the concentration of resources in the hands of the top 1% depresses economic activity and makes life harder for everyone else—particularly those at the bottom of the economic ladder.<ref name="WP-20130120">{{cite news |last=Khazan |first=Olga |title=Can we fight poverty by ending extreme wealth? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/20/oxfam-poverty-income-inequality/ |date=20 January 2013 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |access-date=18 September 2014 |archive-date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041632/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/20/oxfam-poverty-income-inequality/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC-20130118">{{cite news |title=Oxfam seeks 'new deal' on inequality from world leaders |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21094962 |date=18 January 2013 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=18 September 2014 |archive-date=18 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818014118/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21094962 |url-status=live }}</ref> And they say that the gains of the world's [[billionaires]] in 2017, which amounted to $762 billion, were enough to end extreme global poverty seven times over.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hagan |first=Shelly |date=22 January 2018 |title=Billionaires Made So Much Money Last Year They Could End Extreme Poverty Seven Times |url=https://money.com/billionaires-made-so-much-money-last-year-they-could-end-extreme-poverty-seven-times/ |work=[[Money (magazine)|Money]] |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218060745/https://money.com/billionaires-made-so-much-money-last-year-they-could-end-extreme-poverty-seven-times/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Methods to reduce inequality and relative poverty include [[progressive taxation]], which involves increasing tax rates on high-income earners,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gatzia |first1=Dimitria E. |last2=Woods |first2=Douglas |title=Progressive taxation as a means to equality of condition and poverty alleviation |journal=Economics, Management, and Financial Markets |date=September 2014 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=29–43 |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=googlescholar&id=GALE%7CA399572236&v=2.1&it=r&sid=AONE&asid=30038109 |access-date=24 February 2023 |language=English |issn=1842-3191}}</ref><ref name="amaglobeli">{{Citation |last1=Amaglobeli |first1=David |last2=Thevenot |first2=Celine |title=Tackling Inequality on All Fronts |date=March 2022 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2022/03/Tackling-inequality-on-all-fronts-Amaglobeli-Thevenot |access-date=2023-02-22 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] |language=en}}</ref> [[wealth tax]]es, which involve taxing a portion of an individual's net worth above a certain threshold,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Terreblanche |first1=Sampie |title=A Wealth Tax for South Africa |website=University of Witwatersrand |date=January 2018 |issue=1 |url=https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/commerce-law-and-management/research-entities/scis/documents/SCIS%20Working%20paper%20no%201%20Wealth%20Tax.pdf |access-date=24 February 2023 |series=SCIS Working Paper |quote=wealth tax ... income could be used to set up a restitution fund to help alleviate the worst poverty.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Mattauch |first1=Linus |date=31 January 2019 |title=Reducing wealth inequality through wealth taxes without compromising economic growth |url=https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/blog/reducing-wealth-inequality-through-wealth-taxes-without-compromising-economic-growth/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=Oxford Martin School |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Michalos |first1=Alex C. |title=A Case for a Progressive Annual Net Wealth Tax |journal=Public Affairs Quarterly |date=1988 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=105–140 |jstor=40435679 |issn=0887-0373}}</ref> reducing [[payroll tax]]es, which are taxes on employees and employers and reducing this provides workers greater take-home pay and allows employers to spend more on wages and salaries,<ref name="Scholz">{{cite journal |last1=Scholz |first1=John Karl |title=Taxation and poverty: 1960–2006 |journal=Focus |date=2007 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=52–57 |url=https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc251h.pdf |access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Jean-Paul |first=Fitoussi |title=Payroll tax reductions for the low paid |url=https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/972903/filename/ocdefitou.pdf |date=2000 |work=OECD Economic Studies |volume=2000/II |issue=31 |pages=115–131 |oclc=882887538}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brittain |first1=John A. |title=The Incidence of Social Security Payroll Taxes |journal=The American Economic Review |date=1971 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=110–125 |jstor=1910545 |issn=0002-8282}}</ref> and increasing the [[labor share]], which is the proportion of business income paid as wages and salaries instead of allocated to shareholders as profit.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Giovannoni |first1=Olivier |title=Functional Distribution of Income, Inequality and the Incidence of Poverty: Stylized Facts and the Role of Macroeconomic Policy |date=January 30, 2010 |url=https://utip.lbj.utexas.edu/papers/utip_58.pdf |publisher=University of Texas Inequality Project |access-date=2023-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jayadev |first=A. |date=2007-01-20 |title=Capital account openness and the labour share of income |url=https://academic.oup.com/cje/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/cje/bel037 |journal=Cambridge Journal of Economics |language=en |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=423–443 |doi=10.1093/cje/bel037 |issn=0309-166X}}</ref> === Increasing the supply of basic needs === ==== Improving technology ==== [[File:Spraying Oilseed Rape near Barton Grange - geograph.org.uk - 1842382.jpg|thumb|Spreading [[fertilizer]] on a field of [[rapeseed]] near [[Barton-upon-Humber]], England]] Agricultural technologies such as [[nitrogen fertilizer]]s, pesticides, new seed varieties and new irrigation methods have dramatically reduced food shortages in modern times by boosting yields past previous constraints.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm |title=Forgotten benefactor of humanity |publisher=Theatlantic.com |access-date=24 October 2010 |date=January 1997 |archive-date=4 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104005841/http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jan/borlaug/borlaug.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Before the [[Industrial Revolution]], poverty had been mostly accepted as inevitable as economies produced little, making wealth scarce.<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473136/poverty|title=Poverty (sociology)|publisher=britannica.com|access-date=24 October 2010|archive-date=15 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315150947/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473136/poverty|url-status=live}}</ref> Geoffrey Parker wrote that "In [[Antwerp]] and [[Lyon]], two of the largest cities in [[western Europe]], by 1600 three-quarters of the total population were too poor to pay taxes, and therefore likely to need relief in times of crisis."<ref>[[Geoffrey Parker (historian)|Geoffrey Parker]] (2001). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qy8y8rHgucoC&pg=PA11 Europe in crisis, 1598–1648] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519014755/https://books.google.com/books?id=qy8y8rHgucoC&pg=PA11&dq&hl=en |date=19 May 2016 }}''". Wiley–Blackwell. p. 11. {{ISBN|978-0-631-22028-2}}</ref> The initial industrial revolution led to high economic growth and eliminated mass absolute poverty in what is now considered the developed world.<ref name=Britannica>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/243118/Great-Depression Great Depression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509121741/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/243118/Great-Depression |date=9 May 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> [[Mass production]] of goods in places such as rapidly industrializing China has made what were once considered luxuries, such as vehicles and computers, inexpensive and thus accessible to many who were otherwise too poor to afford them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/asia/27laos.html|title=In Laos, Chinese motorcycles change lives|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Thomas|last=Fuller|date=27 December 2007|archive-date=9 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409105223/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/asia/27laos.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p12s01-woaf.html?page=2 |title=China boosts African economies, offering a second opportunity |journal=Christian Science Monitor |date=25 June 2007 |access-date=24 October 2010 |archive-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512071516/http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0625/p12s01-woaf.html?page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other than technology, advancements in sciences such as medicine help provide basic needs better. For example, [[Sri Lanka]] had a [[maternal mortality rate]] of 2% in the 1930s, higher than any nation today, but reduced it to 0.5–0.6% in the 1950s and to 0.6% in 2006 while spending less each year on [[maternal health]] because it learned what worked and what did not.<ref name="Disease Control Priorities Project">{{cite web|url=http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html|title=Disease Control Priorities Project|publisher=dcp2.org|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623001000/http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html|archive-date=23 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=post>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040200813.html|title=Saving millions for just a few dollars|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 April 2006|access-date=21 June 2011|first=David|last=Brown|archive-date=20 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110620195857/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040200813.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Knowledge on the cost effectiveness of healthcare interventions can be elusive and educational measures have been made to disseminate what works, such as the [[Copenhagen Consensus]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Prabhat|first=Jha|title=Benefits and costs of the health targets for the post-2015 development agenda|url=http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-health-assessment-jha-et-al|website=copenhageconsensus.com|publisher=Copenhagen Consensus Center|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=11 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111000019/http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-health-assessment-jha-et-al|url-status=live}}</ref> Cheap [[water filter]]s and promoting hand washing are some of the most cost effective health interventions and can cut [[child mortality|deaths]] from [[diarrhea]] and [[pneumonia]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8399692.stm|title=India's Tata launches water filter for rural poor|work=BBC News|date=7 December 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718134728/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8399692.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7670855.stm|title=Millions mark UN hand-washing day|work=BBC News|date=15 October 2008|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009215006/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7670855.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Food fortification|Fortification]] with [[micronutrient]]s was ranked the most cost effective aid strategy by the Copenhagen Consensus.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=0|title=Raising the World's I.Q.|newspaper=New York Times|date=4 December 2008|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717055221/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, [[iodised salt]] costs 2 to 3 cents per person a year while even moderate [[iodine deficiency]] in pregnancy shaves off 10 to 15 [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]] points.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ref=todayspaper|title=In Raising the World's I.Q., the Secret's in the Salt|work=The New York Times|date=16 December 2006|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=17 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717055236/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/health/16iodine.html?ref=todayspaper|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== State funding ==== {{See also|Political corruption|Tax havens|Transfer mispricing|Developing countries' debt|Conditionality}} [[File:Nigerian Surgery Table.jpg|thumb|right|Hardwood surgical tables are commonplace in rural [[Nigeria]]n clinics.]] Certain basic needs are argued to be better provided by the state. [[Universal healthcare]] can reduce the overall cost of providing healthcare by having a single payer negotiating with healthcare providers and minimizing administrative costs.<ref name=Blumenthal>{{Citation |last1=Blumenthal |first1=David |date=2014-09-09 |title=Do Health Care Costs Fuel Economic Inequality in the United States? |url=https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2014/do-health-care-costs-fuel-economic-inequality-united-states |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=www.commonwealthfund.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Dastidar>{{cite journal |last1=Dastidar |first1=Biswanath Ghosh |last2=Suri |first2=Shailesh |last3=Nagaraja |first3=Vikranth H. |last4=Jani |first4=Anant |title=A virtual bridge to Universal Healthcare in India |journal=Communications Medicine |date=16 November 2022 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=145 |doi=10.1038/s43856-022-00211-7 |pmid=36385160 |pmc=9667848 |s2cid=253525261 |language=en |issn=2730-664X |quote=any strategy by India to haul its massive population out of poverty must necessarily include measures to provide UHC nationwide.}}</ref> It is also argued that subsidizing essential goods such as fuel is less efficient in helping the poor than providing that same money as income grants to the poor.<ref name=Jha/> Government revenue can be diverted away from basic services by corruption.<ref name=unodc>{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/about-unodc/speeches/2007-11-13.html|title=Anti-Corruption Climate Change: it started in Nigeria|publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime|date=13 November 2007|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=22 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422134508/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/about-unodc/speeches/2007-11-13.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/04/nigeria-the-hidden-cost-of-corruption.html|title=Nigeria: the Hidden Cost of Corruption|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)|date=14 April 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=23 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023234604/http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bribe/2009/04/nigeria-the-hidden-cost-of-corruption.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Funds from aid and natural resources are often sent by government individuals for [[money laundering]] to overseas banks which insist on [[bank secrecy]], instead of spending on the poor.<ref name=graft>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13278728|title=Banks, graft and development|newspaper=The Economist|date=12 March 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=18 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318081420/http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13278728|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[Global Witness]] report asked for more action from Western banks as they have proved capable of stanching the flow of funds linked to terrorism.<ref name=graft/> [[Illicit financial flows|Illicit capital flight]], such as corporate [[tax avoidance]],<ref>José Antonio Ocampo and Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona (30 September 2015). [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/30/tax-avoidance-corporations-impacts-the-poor-united-nations-step-in Tax avoidance by corporations is out of control. The United Nations must step in] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510153325/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/30/tax-avoidance-corporations-impacts-the-poor-united-nations-step-in |date=10 May 2017 }}. ''The Guardian.'' Retrieved 30 September 2015.</ref> from the developing world is estimated at ten times the size of aid it receives and twice the debt service it pays,<ref> {{Cite book |date = January 2011 |first1 = Kristina |last1 = Fröberg |first2 = Attiya |last2 = Waris |page = 7 |title = Bringing The Billions Back – How Africa And Europe Can End Illicit Capital Flight |url = https://www.academia.edu/5072598 |publisher = Forum Syd <!--Forlag means publisher--> |location = Stockholm |isbn = 978-91-89542-59-4 |access-date = 13 April 2022 |via = Academia.edu }} </ref> with one estimate that most of Africa would be developed if the taxes owed were paid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2012/01/201211684512130367.html|title=Africa losing billions in tax evasion|work=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al-Jazeera]]|date=16 January 2012|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106135130/http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2012/01/201211684512130367.html|url-status=live}}</ref> About 60 per cent of illicit capital flight from Africa is from [[transfer mispricing]], where a [[subsidiary]] in a developing nation sells to another subsidiary or [[shell company]] in a [[tax haven]] at an artificially low price to pay less tax.<ref name=transparency>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/06/20116188244589715.html|title='Transparency' hides Zambia's lost billions|work=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al-Jazeera]]|date=18 June 2011|access-date=26 July 2011|first=Khadija|last=Sharife|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162746/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/06/20116188244589715.html|url-status=live}}</ref> An [[African Union]] report estimates that about 30% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP has been moved to tax havens.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2007/jan/21/business.theobserver2|title=Western bankers and lawyers 'rob Africa of $150bn every year'|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=21 January 2007|access-date=5 July 2011|first=Nick|last=Mathiason|archive-date=9 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909233820/http://www.theguardian.com/money/2007/jan/21/business.theobserver2|url-status=live}}</ref> Solutions include corporate "country-by-country reporting" where corporations disclose activities in each country and thereby prohibit the use of tax havens where no effective economic activity occurs.<ref name=transparency/> [[Developing countries' debt|Developing countries' debt service]] to banks and governments from richer countries can constrain government spending on the poor.<ref>The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. 2001. ''Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, Progress Report.'' Retrieved from [http://worldbank.org Worldbank.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313170039/http://www.worldbank.org/ |date=13 March 2018 }}.</ref> For example, [[Zambia]] spent 40% of its total budget to repay foreign debt, and only 7% for basic state services in 1997.<ref name="worldcentric.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcentric.org/conscious-living/third-world-debt|title=Third World Debt|publisher=worldcentric.org|access-date=27 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527054809/http://www.worldcentric.org/conscious-living/third-world-debt|archive-date=27 May 2011}}</ref> One of the proposed ways to help poor countries has been [[debt relief]]. Zambia began offering services, such as free health care even while overwhelming the health care infrastructure, because of savings that resulted from a 2005 round of debt relief.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4883062.stm|title=Zambia overwhelmed by free health care|work=BBC News|access-date=27 May 2011|date=7 April 2006|archive-date=20 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720055045/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4883062.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Since that round of debt relief, private creditors accounted for an increasing share of poor countries' debt service obligations. This complicated efforts to renegotiate easier terms for borrowers during crises such as the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] because the multiple private creditors involved say they have a fiduciary obligation to their clients such as the pension funds.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/nov/15/world-poverty-rising-rich-nations-debt-covid-gordon-brown-child-mortality|title=World poverty rising as rich nations call in debt amid Covid, warns Gordon Brown|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 April 2021|date=15 November 2020|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501235245/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/nov/15/world-poverty-rising-rich-nations-debt-covid-gordon-brown-child-mortality|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/21/uk-urged-take-lead-easing-debt-crisis-developing-countries-g7|title=UK urged to take lead in easing debt crisis in developing countries|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 April 2021|date=21 February 2021|archive-date=26 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426033410/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/21/uk-urged-take-lead-easing-debt-crisis-developing-countries-g7|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[World Bank]] and the [[International Monetary Fund]], as primary holders of developing countries' debt, attach [[structural adjustment]] [[Conditionality|conditionalities]] in return for loans which are generally geared toward loan repayment with [[austerity]] measures such as the elimination of state subsidies and the privatization of state services. For example, the World Bank presses poor nations to eliminate subsidies for fertilizer even while many farmers cannot afford them at market prices.<ref name=Malawi>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html|title=Ending famine simply by ignoring the experts|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Celia W.|last=Dugger|date=2 December 2007|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615032049/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Malawi]], almost 5 million of its 13 million people used to need emergency food aid but after the government changed policy and subsidies for fertilizer and seed were introduced, farmers produced record-breaking corn harvests in 2006 and 2007 as Malawi became a major food exporter.<ref name=Malawi/> A major proportion of aid from donor nations is [[tied aid|tied]], mandating that a receiving nation spend on products and expertise originating only from the donor country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24509|title=Tied aid strangling nations, says UN|publisher=ispnews.net|access-date=27 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223203509/http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24509|archive-date=23 December 2010}}</ref> US law requires [[food aid]] be spent on buying food at home, instead of where the hungry live, and, as a result, half of what is spent is used on transport.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/160075|title=Let them eat micronutrients|work=Newsweek|access-date=27 May 2011|date=20 September 2008|archive-date=17 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717002543/http://www.newsweek.com/id/160075|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Distressed securities fund]]s, also known as ''vulture funds'', buy up the debt of poor nations cheaply and then sue countries for the full value of the debt plus interest which can be ten or 100 times what they paid.<ref name=vulture>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-21627406|title=Jersey law to stop 'vulture funds' comes into force|work=BBC News|access-date=1 October 2014|date=1 March 2013|archive-date=17 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017234751/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-jersey-21627406|url-status=live}}</ref> They may pursue any companies which do business with their target country to force them to pay to the fund instead.<ref name=vulture/> Considerable resources are diverted on costly court cases. For example, a court in [[Jersey]] ordered the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] to pay an American speculator $100 million in 2010.<ref name=vulture/> Now, the UK, [[Isle of Man]] and Jersey have banned such payments.<ref name=vulture/> [[File:Familiy Planning Ethiopia (bad effects).jpg|thumb|A [[family planning]] placard in [[Ethiopia]]. It shows some negative effects of having too many children.]] ====Improving access to available basic needs==== {{main|Reverse brain drain|Human capital flight}} Even with new products, such as better seeds, or greater volumes of them, such as industrial production, the poor still require access to these products. Improving road and transportation infrastructure helps solve this major bottleneck. In Africa, it costs more to move fertilizer from an African seaport {{convert|60|mi|km|-1|order=flip}} inland than to ship it from the United States to Africa because of sparse, low-quality roads, leading to fertilizer costs two to six times the world average.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/world/africa/31soil.html?_r=0|title=Overfarming African land is worsening Hunger Crisis|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 February 2013|first=Celia|last=Dugger|date=31 March 2006|archive-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515181849/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/world/africa/31soil.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Microfranchising]] models such as door-to-door distributors who earn commission-based income or [[Coca-Cola]]'s successful distribution system<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/reenitadas/2014/06/30/if-coca-cola-can-be-delivered-all-over-the-developing-world-why-cant-essential-medications/#17d0b7415559|title=If Coca-Cola can be Delivered All Over the Developing World, Why Can't Essential Medicine?|work=Forbes|access-date=22 June 2016|first=Reenita|last=Das|date=30 June 2014|archive-date=22 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822000311/http://www.forbes.com/sites/reenitadas/2014/06/30/if-coca-cola-can-be-delivered-all-over-the-developing-world-why-cant-essential-medications/#17d0b7415559|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/03/colalife-piggybacks-on-coke/|title=Clever Packaging: Essential Medicine Rides Coke's Distribution Into Remote Villages|work=wired.com|access-date=22 June 2016|first=Tim|last=Maly|date=27 March 2013|archive-date=20 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620072712/http://www.wired.com/2013/03/colalife-piggybacks-on-coke|url-status=live}}</ref> are used to disseminate basic needs to remote areas for below market prices.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130531-saving-lives-the-avon-way|title=Africa's 'Avon Ladies' saving lives door-to-door|work=BBC News|access-date=31 May 2014|first=Jonathan|last=Kalan|date=3 June 2013|archive-date=21 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121094526/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130531-saving-lives-the-avon-way|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=microfranchising>{{cite news|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/the-avon-ladies-of-africa/|title=The 'Avon Ladies' of Africa|newspaper=nytimes.com|access-date=9 February 2013|first=Tina|last=Rosenberg|date=10 October 2012|archive-date=25 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125114430/http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/the-avon-ladies-of-africa/|url-status=live}}</ref> The loss of basic needs providers emigrating from impoverished countries has a damaging effect.<ref name=Philippines>{{cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2006-05-03-voa38.html|title=Philippine Medical Brain Drain Leaves Public Health System in Crisis|publisher=voanews.com|date=3 May 2006|access-date=27 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130222516/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2006-05-03-voa38.html|archive-date=30 January 2012}}</ref> As of 2004, there were more Ethiopia-trained doctors living in Chicago than in Ethiopia<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/1475620/Out-of-Africa---health-workers-leave-in-droves.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525013213/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/1475620/Out-of-Africa---health-workers-leave-in-droves.html|archive-date=25 May 2010|title=Out of Africa – health workers leave in droves|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=2 November 2004|access-date=27 May 2011|location=London|first=Adrian|last=Blomfield}}</ref> and this often leaves inadequately less skilled doctors to remain in their home countries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/08/27/what-educated-people-from-poor-countries-make-of-the-brain-drain-argument|title=What educated people from poor countries make of the "brain drain" argument|date=27 August 2018|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=5 December 2019|issn=0013-0613|archive-date=4 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204140616/https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/08/27/what-educated-people-from-poor-countries-make-of-the-brain-drain-argument|url-status=live}}</ref> Proposals to mitigate the problem include compulsory government service for graduates of public medical and nursing schools<ref name=Philippines/> and promoting [[medical tourism]] so that health care personnel have more incentive to practice in their home countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/05/30/inpatients-abroad/|title=Inpatients abroad|publisher=foreignpolicy.com|access-date=9 January 2016|date=30 May 2011|archive-date=18 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118005150/http://foreignpolicy.com/2011/05/30/inpatients-abroad/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Telehealth]] is the use of [[Telecommunications|telecommunication technologies]] to deliver health services. For remotes communities in [[Alaska]], telehealth has been found to reduce travel costs alone for the state by $13 million in 2021<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alaskajournal.com/2016-10-12/medicaid-reform-improves-access-healthcare-alaska-natives|title=Medicaid reform improves access to healthcare for Alaska Natives|website=www.alaskajournal.com|language=en|access-date=15 June 2023}}</ref> and, according to one study, reduced the life expectancy gap between whites and American Indian population in Alaska from eight to five years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sequist|first1=T|last2=Cullen|first2=T|last3= Acton|first3=K|date=2011 |title=Indian health service innovations have helped reduce health disparities affecting american Indian and alaska native people.|journal=Health Aff (Millwood)|volume=30 |issue=10|pages=1965–1973|doi=10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0630|pmid= 21976341|s2cid=31770979|doi-access=free}}</ref> ==== Preventing overpopulation ==== {{main|Demographic transition|family planning}} [[File:Total Fertility Rate Map by Country.svg|thumb|270px|Map of countries and territories by [[Total fertility rate|fertility rate]] as of 2020]] Poverty and lack of access to birth control can lead to population increases that put pressure on local economies and access to resources, amplifying other economic inequality and creating increase poverty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-and-poverty|title=Population and poverty|website=www.unfpa.org|language=en|access-date=11 February 2019|archive-date=21 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521093951/https://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-and-poverty|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=birthrates/><ref>"[https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gevGOq7Vctd1FmJkzO3gapTqX4ZA Population growth driving climate change, poverty: experts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523114015/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gevGOq7Vctd1FmJkzO3gapTqX4ZA |date=23 May 2012 }}". [[Agence France-Presse]]. 21 September 2009.</ref> Better [[Female education|education for both men and women]], and more control of their lives, reduces population growth due to [[family planning]].<ref name=empower>World Bank. 2001. ''Engendering Development – Through Gender Equality in Right, Resources and Voice.'' New York: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crist|first1=Eileen|last2=Ripple|first2=William J.|author-link2=William J. Ripple|last3= Ehrlich|first3=Paul R.|author-link3=Paul R. Ehrlich|last4=Rees|first4=William E. |last5=Wolf|first5=Christopher |date=2022 |title=Scientists' warning on population|url=https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf|journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]]|volume=845 |issue=|page=157166 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157166|pmid= 35803428|bibcode=2022ScTEn.845o7166C |s2cid=250387801|quote=Alongside ambitious investment in schooling girls (and more broadly, of course, all children), priority should be given to making high-quality family-planning services available to every woman on the planet, while economic, geographic, and cultural barriers to access should be removed. The combination of institutional support to plan one's child-bearing choices and educational attainment, including enhanced opportunity for higher education for women, yields immediate fertility declines.}}</ref> According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), those who receive better education can earn money for their lives, thereby strengthening economic security.<ref>{{cite web |title=Population and Poverty |url=http://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-and-poverty |year=2014 |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-date=21 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221013524/http://www.unfpa.org/resources/population-and-poverty |url-status=live }}</ref> === Increasing personal income === The following are strategies used or proposed to increase personal incomes among the poor. Raising farm incomes is described as the core of the antipoverty effort as three-quarters of the poor today are farmers.<ref name=agriculture>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/africa/20worldbank.html|title=World Bank report puts agriculture at core of antipoverty effort|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Celia W.|last=Dugger|date=20 October 2007|archive-date=26 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126135129/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/africa/20worldbank.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Estimates show that growth in the agricultural productivity of small farmers is, on average, at least twice as effective in benefiting the poorest half of a country's population as growth generated in nonagricultural sectors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/0,,contentMDK:21893554~menuPK:2643747~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:336992,00.html|title=Climate Change: Bangladesh facing the challenge|publisher=The [[World Bank]]|date=8 September 2008|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=18 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118191406/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/0,,contentMDK:21893554~menuPK:2643747~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:336992,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Income grants ==== {{Main|Guaranteed minimum income|Social security|Welfare}} [[File:Afghan girl begging.jpg|thumb|Afghan girl begging in [[Kabul]]]] A [[guaranteed minimum income]] ensures that every citizen will be able to purchase a desired level of basic needs. One method is through a [[basic income]] (or [[negative income tax]]), which is a system of [[social security]], that periodically provides each citizen, rich or poor, with a sum of money that is sufficient to live on.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Wright |first1=Erik Olin |date=14 February 2017 |title=Can the universal basic income solve global inequalities? |url=https://en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/news/can-universal-basic-income-solve-global-inequalities |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=en.unesco.org}}</ref> Studies of large cash-transfer programs in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi show that the programs can be effective in increasing consumption, schooling, and nutrition, whether they are tied to such conditions or not.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Special Section on Social Cash Transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa |journal= Journal of Development Effectiveness |year= 2012 |url= http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjde20/4/1 |access-date= 23 January 2013 |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |pages= 1–187 |doi= 10.1080/19439342.2012.659024 |last1= Davis |first1= Benjamin |last2= Gaarder |first2= Marie |last3= Handa |first3= Sudhanshu |last4= Yablonski |first4= Jenn |s2cid= 129406705 |archive-date= 8 August 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200808043539/https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjde20/4/1 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=Spiegel>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,642310,00.html|title=A new approach to aid: How a basic income program saved a Namibian village|work=Der Spiegel|access-date=28 May 2011|date=10 August 2009|last1=Krahe|first1=Dialika|archive-date=16 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516110247/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,642310,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Namibians line up">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7415814.stm|title=Namibians line up for free cash|work=BBC News|access-date=28 May 2011|date=23 May 2008|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620055405/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7415814.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Wage subsidy|Employment subsidies]] are conditional subsidies that go to those already employed and this has shown to have little effect on those at the lowest income levels.<ref name="Scholz" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hoynes |first1=Hilary |last2=Patel |first2=Ankur |date=July 2015 |title=Effective Policy for Reducing Inequality? The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Distribution of Income |journal=Journal of Human Resources |volume=53 |issue=4 |url=https://www.gc.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/2021-07/Hoynes-Patel-0616.pdf |doi=10.3386/w21340 |location=Cambridge, MA|s2cid=153263015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Orszag |first1=J. Michael |last2=Snower |first2=Dennis J. |date=2003-10-01 |title=Designing employment subsidies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537103000356 |journal=Labour Economics |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=557–572 |doi=10.1016/S0927-5371(03)00035-6 |issn=0927-5371}}</ref> Proponents argue that a basic income is more economically efficient than a [[minimum wage]] and [[unemployment benefit]]s, as the minimum wage effectively imposes a high marginal tax on employers, causing [[deadweight loss|losses in efficiency]]. In 1968, [[Paul Samuelson]], [[John Kenneth Galbraith]] and another 1,200 economists signed a document calling for the US Congress to introduce a system of income guarantees.<ref>''Economists' Statement on Guaranteed Annual Income'', 1/15/1968 – April 18, 1969 folder, General Correspondence Series, Papers of John Kenneth Galbraith, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Cited in: Jyotsna Sreenivasan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yk5NI69ZO9sC "Poverty and the Government in America: A Historical Encyclopedia."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629172441/https://books.google.com/books?id=yk5NI69ZO9sC |date=29 June 2016 }} (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009), p. 269</ref> Winners of the [[Nobel Prize in Economics]], with often diverse political convictions, who support a basic income include [[Herbert A. Simon]],<ref name=Standing/> [[Friedrich Hayek]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hayek |first=Friedrich |author-link=Friedrich Hayek |title= Law, Legislation and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy |volume=2 |year=1973 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7100-8403-3 |page=87 }}</ref> [[Robert Solow]],<ref name=Standing/> [[Milton Friedman]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Friedman |first1=Milton |author-link=Milton Friedman |first2=Rose |last2=Friedman |title=Free to Choose: A Personal Statement |year=1990 |publisher=Harcourt |isbn=978-0-15-633460-0 |pages=120–123 }}</ref> [[Jan Tinbergen]],<ref name=Standing/> [[James Tobin]]<ref name="Steensland ">{{cite book|last=Steensland |first=Brian |title=The failed welfare revolution |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2007 |pages=70–78 |isbn= 978-0-691-12714-9}}</ref><ref>''"Is a Negative Income Tax Practical?"'', James Tobin, Joseph A. Pechman, and Peter M. Mieszkowski, Yale Law Journal 77 (1967): 1–27.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=3649 |title=Interview with James Tobin – The Region – Publications & Papers | The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis |first=David |last=Fettig |work=minneapolisfed.org |year=2011 |quote=I would pursue my recommendations of years ago for a negative income tax. |access-date=25 October 2011 |archive-date=15 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015124538/http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=3649 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[James Meade]].<ref name=Standing >{{cite book|year=2005 |publisher=Anthem Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-84331-174-4 |title=Promoting Income Security as a Right: Europe and North America |chapter=1. About Time: Basic Income Security As A Right |page=18 |first=Guy |last=Standing |edition=2nd |editor-first=Guy |editor-last=Standing |quote=Among those who have become convinced of the virtues of the basic income approach are several Nobel Prize-winning economists of surprisingly diverse political convictions: Milton Friedman, Herbert Simon, Robert Solow, Jan Tinbergen and James Tobin (besides, of course, James Meade who was an advocate from his younger days).}}</ref> Income grants are argued to be vastly more efficient in extending basic needs to the poor than [[subsidies|subsidizing]] supplies whose effectiveness in poverty alleviation is diluted by the non-poor who enjoy the same subsidized prices.<ref name=Jha> {{cite journal |year = 2010 |first1 = Shikha |last1 = Jha |first2 = Bharat |last2 = Ramaswami |title = How Can Food Subsidies Work Better? Answers from India and the Philippines |journal = Erd Working Paper |url = http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2010/economics-wp221.pdf |publisher = Asian Development Bank |location = Manila |issn = 1655-5252 |access-date = 23 January 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150506130749/http://adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2010/economics-wp221.pdf |archive-date = 6 May 2015 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> With cars and other appliances, the wealthiest 20% of Egypt uses about 93% of the country's fuel subsidies.<ref name=fossilfuel/> In some countries, fuel subsidies are a larger part of the budget than health and education.<ref name=fossilfuel>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121210104516139607.html|title=How to end fossil fuel subsidies without hurting the poor|publisher=Aljazeera|access-date=23 January 2013|date=11 December 2012|archive-date=14 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214104328/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121210104516139607.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/india-takes-aim-at-poverty-with-cash-transfer-program.html?_r=0 |title= India Aims to Keep Money for Poor Out of Others' Pockets |work= The New York Times |access-date= 23 January 2013 |date= 5 January 2013 |archive-date= 15 May 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130515192059/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/india-takes-aim-at-poverty-with-cash-transfer-program.html?_r=0 |url-status= live }}</ref> A 2008 study concluded that the money spent on in-kind transfers in India in a year could lift all India's poor out of poverty for that year if transferred directly.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kapur |first=Devesh |author2=Mukhopadhyay, Subramanian |title=More for the Poor and Less for and by the State: The Case for Direct Cash Transfers |date=12 April 2008 |url=http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/papers/subramanian0408b.pdf |access-date=23 January 2013 |archive-date=14 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514165229/http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/papers/subramanian0408b.pdf }}</ref> The primary obstacle argued against direct cash transfers is the impractically for poor countries of such large and direct transfers. In practice, payments determined by complex iris scanning are used by war-torn [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] and Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cgdev.org/blog/biometrics-identity-and-development|title=Biometrics, Identity and Development|publisher=Center for Global Development|date=14 October 2010|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-date=26 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926053529/http://www.cgdev.org/blog/biometrics-identity-and-development|url-status=live}}</ref> while India is phasing out its fuel subsidies in favor of direct transfers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022805299.html|title=India announces changes in subsidies, will hand out cash to its poor|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=28 February 2011|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-date=10 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010022657/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022805299.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, in aid models, the [[famine relief]] model increasingly used by aid groups calls for giving cash or cash vouchers to the hungry to pay local farmers instead of buying food from donor countries, often required by law, as it wastes money on transport costs.<ref name=csmonitor>{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p01s02-woaf.html|title=UN aid debate: give cash not food?|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=4 June 2008|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=3 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703113649/http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0604/p01s02-woaf.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=wfp>{{cite web|url=http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |title=Cash roll-out to help hunger hot spots |publisher=[[World Food Program]] |date=8 December 2008 |access-date=21 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212124012/http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2899 |archive-date=12 February 2009 }}</ref> ==== Economic freedoms ==== {{see also|Economic freedom|Red tape}} Corruption often leads to many [[civil service]]s being treated by governments as employment agencies to loyal supporters<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21678243-regions-countries-desperately-need-reform-their-public-sectors-aiwa-yes|title=Arab bureaucracies|publisher=economist.com|access-date=5 January 2016|date=14 November 2014|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116150858/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21678243-regions-countries-desperately-need-reform-their-public-sectors-aiwa-yes|url-status=live}}</ref> and so it could mean going through 20 procedures, paying $2,696 in fees, and waiting 82 business days to start a business in [[Bolivia]], while in [[Canada]] it takes two days, two registration procedures, and $280 to do the same.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dipak Das Gupta|author2=Mustapha K. Nabli|author3=World Bank|title=Trade, Investment, and Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Engaging With the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCZcHibu5OIC&pg=PA122|year=2003|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-5574-9|page=122|access-date=14 October 2015|archive-date=17 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517073339/https://books.google.com/books?id=hCZcHibu5OIC&pg=PA122|url-status=live}}</ref> Such costly barriers favor big firms at the expense of small enterprises, where most jobs are created.<ref name=cato>{{cite web|url=http://www.cato.org/research/articles/vas-0109.html |title=Ending mass poverty |publisher=cato.org |access-date=27 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524064149/http://www.cato.org/research/articles/vas-0109.html |archive-date=24 May 2011 }}</ref> Often, businesses have to bribe government officials even for routine activities, which is, in effect, a tax on business.<ref name="macroeconomics1">Krugman, Paul, and Robin Wells. ''Macroeconomics''. 2. New York City: Worth Publishers, 2009. Print.</ref> Noted reductions in poverty in recent decades has occurred in China and India mostly as a result of the abandonment of [[collective farming]] in China and the ending of the [[central planning]] model known as the [[License Raj]] in India.<ref name=bbc1>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5407770.stm|title=Can aid bring an end to poverty|work=BBC News|access-date=28 May 2011|first=Mark|last=Doyle|date=4 October 2006|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402201358/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5407770.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/55427.stm|title=India:the economy|work=BBC News|date=3 December 1998|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803020137/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/55427.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/poor_little_rich_country?page=0,1|title=Poor Little Rich Country|publisher=foreignpolicy.com|date=24 June 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628204700/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/24/poor_little_rich_country?page=0,1|archive-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> The [[World Bank]] concludes that governments and feudal elites extending to the poor the right to the land that they live and use are 'the key to reducing poverty' citing that land rights greatly increase poor people's wealth, in some cases doubling it.<ref name=landrights>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3006562.stm|title=Land rights help fight poverty|publisher=bbcnews.com|access-date=23 January 2013|date=20 June 2003|archive-date=16 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416033026/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3006562.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Providing secure tenure to land ownership creates incentives to improve the land and thus improves the welfare of the poor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deininger |first=Klaus |date=2003 |title=Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15125 |publisher=[[World Bank]] |series=World Bank Policy Research Report |language=en-US |location=Washington, DC|doi=10.1596/0-8213-5071-4 |isbn=978-0-8213-5071-3 }}</ref> It is argued that those in power have an incentive to not secure property rights as they are able to then more easily take land or any small business that does well to their supporters.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/09/12/who-owns-what?partnerize_clickref=1011lwUDLckW|title= Who owns what? Enforceable property rights are still far too rare in poor countries|publisher=economist.com|access-date=24 June 2023|date=12 September 2020 }}</ref> Greater access to markets brings more income to the poor. Road infrastructure has a direct impact on poverty.<ref name="GCR">{{cite web|url=http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm |title=Global Competitiveness Report 2006, World Economic Forum |publisher=weforum.org |access-date=28 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619083349/http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%2BCompetitiveness%2BReport/index.htm |archive-date=19 June 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adbi.org/conf-seminar-papers/2004/11/26/830.infrastructure.poverty.reduction/|title=Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction: Cross-country Evidence|publisher=abdi.org|access-date=28 May 2011|archive-date=26 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926192919/http://www.adbi.org/conf-seminar-papers/2004/11/26/830.infrastructure.poverty.reduction/|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, migration from poorer countries resulted in $328 billion sent from richer to poorer countries in 2010, more than double the $120 billion in official aid flows from [[OECD]] members. In 2011, India got $52 billion from its [[diaspora]], more than it took in [[foreign direct investment]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=894664&story_id=14586906|title=Migration and development: The aid workers who really help|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=27 May 2011|date=8 October 2009|archive-date=10 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310212904/http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=894664&story_id=14586906|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Financial services ==== {{See also|Microfinance|Microcredit}} [[File:Kiwanja uganda charging 1.jpg|thumb|Information and communication technologies for development help to fight poverty.]] [[Microloan]]s, made famous by the [[Grameen Bank]], is where small amounts of money are loaned to farmers or villages, mostly women, who can then obtain physical capital to increase their economic rewards. However, microlending has been criticized for making hyperprofits off the poor even from its founder, [[Muhammad Yunus]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/opinion/15yunus.html|title=Sacrificing microcredit for megaprofits|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Muhammad|last=Yunus|date=14 January 2011|archive-date=29 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229061555/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/opinion/15yunus.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and in India, [[Arundhati Roy]] asserts that some 250,000 debt-ridden farmers have been driven to suicide.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/business/global/06micro.html|title=Microlenders, honored with Nobel, are struggling|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first=Vikas|last=Bajaj|date=5 January 2011|archive-date=17 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617105040/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/business/global/06micro.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/world/asia/18micro.html|title=India microcredit faces collapse from defaults|work=The New York Times|access-date=27 May 2011|first1=Lydia|last1=Polgreen|first2=Vikas|last2=Bajaj|date=17 November 2010|archive-date=27 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127014631/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/world/asia/18micro.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/4/8/wednesday_arundhati_roy_on_elections_in Excerpt From "Capitalism: A Ghost Story" By Arundhati Roy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529045003/http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/4/8/wednesday_arundhati_roy_on_elections_in |date=29 May 2014 }}. ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' Retrieved 27 May 2014.</ref> Those in poverty place overwhelming importance on having a safe place to save money, much more so than receiving loans.<ref name=time.com>{{cite news|last=Kiviat |first=Barbara |url=http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1918733,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831064814/http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1918733,00.html |archive-date=31 August 2009 |title=Microfinance's next step: deposits|magazine=Time|access-date=23 October 2010 |date=30 August 2009}}</ref> Additionally, a large part of [[microfinance]] loans are spent not on investments but on products that would usually be paid by a [[checking account|checking]] or [[savings account]].<ref name=time.com/> Microsavings are designs to make savings products available for the poor, who make small deposits. [[Mobile banking]] uses the wide availability of mobile phones to address the problem of the heavy regulation and costly maintenance of saving accounts.<ref name=time.com/> This usually involves a network of agents of mostly shopkeepers, instead of bank branches, would take deposits in cash and translate these onto a virtual account on customers' phones. Cash transfers can be done between phones and issued back in cash with a small commission, making [[remittance]]s safer.<ref name=safaricom>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8194241.stm|title=Africa's mobile banking revolution|work=BBC News |access-date=28 May 2011|first=Louise|last=Greenwood|date=12 August 2009|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828014936/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8194241.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Education and vocational training ==== [[File:Early Childhood Education USAID Africa.jpg|thumb|Early childhood education through [[USAID]] in [[Ziway]], Ethiopia]] [[Free education]] through [[public education]] or charitable organizations rather than through tuition, from [[early childhood education]] through the [[tertiary level]] provides children from low-income families who may not otherwise have the financial resources with better job prospects and higher earnings and promotes social mobility.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steven Barnett |first=W. |date=1998-03-01 |title=Long-Term Cognitive and Academic Effects of Early Childhood Education on Children in Poverty |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743598902754 |journal=Preventive Medicine |language=en |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=204–207 |doi=10.1006/pmed.1998.0275 |pmid=9578996 |issn=0091-7435}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=King |first1=Mary |date=December 8, 2021 |title=A Strong Economic Case for Federal Investment in Universal Preschool |url=https://inequality.org/research/build-back-better-universal-preschool/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |publisher=Institute for Policy Studies}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=García |first1=Rosa M. |title=Debt-Free College: Principles for Prioritizing Low-Income Students |website=Center for Law and Social Policy |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.clasp.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019/02/2019_DebtFreeCollegePrinciples.pdf |access-date=24 February 2023 |publisher=Center for Law and Social Policy |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Jon Marcus |author2=Holly K. Hacker |date=2015-12-17 |title=The rich-poor divide on America's college campuses is getting wider, fast |url=http://hechingerreport.org/the-socioeconomic-divide-on-americas-college-campuses-is-getting-wider-fast/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |work=The Hechinger Report |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Job training]] and [[vocational education]] programs that target training in technical skills in specific industries or occupations that are in high demand can reduce poverty and wealth concentration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oh |first1=Sehun |last2=DiNitto |first2=Diana M. |last3=Kim |first3=Yeonwoo |date=2021-01-01 |title=Exiting poverty: a systematic review of U.S. postsecondary education and job skills training programs in the post-welfare reform era |journal=International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy |volume=41 |issue=11/12 |pages=1210–1226 |doi=10.1108/IJSSP-09-2020-0429 |s2cid=234253474 |issn=0144-333X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Chunqiu |last2=Sun |first2=Yang |date=2021-03-25 |title=Mechanism of vocational education promoting precision poverty alleviation |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020720920983505 |journal=The International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Education |volume=60 |language=en |pages=4006–4022 |doi=10.1177/0020720920983505 |s2cid=233691683 |issn=0020-7209}}</ref> Strategies to provide education cost effectively include [[deworming]] children, which costs about 50 cents per child per year and reduces non-attendance from [[anemia]], illness and malnutrition, while being only a twenty-fifth as expensive as increasing school attendance by constructing schools.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Kristof-t.html?_r=1&ref=global-|title=How can we help the world's poor|publisher=NYTimes|date=20 November 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|first=Nicholas D.|last=Kristof|archive-date=15 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515194939/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Kristof-t.html?_r=1&ref=global-|url-status=live}}</ref> Schoolgirl absenteeism could be cut in half by simply providing free [[sanitary towel]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8488375.stm|title=Sanitary pads help Ghana girls go to school|work=BBC News|date=29 January 2010|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=2 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902124432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8488375.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Paying for school meals is argued to be an efficient strategy in increasing school enrollment, reducing absenteeism and increasing student attention.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/oct/27/free-school-meals-young-learners-liberia-marys-meals|title=Free school meals a recipe for success for young learners in Liberia|work=The Guardian|date=27 October 2016|access-date=30 October 2016|archive-date=31 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031030422/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/oct/27/free-school-meals-young-learners-liberia-marys-meals|url-status=live}}</ref> Desirable actions such as enrolling children in school or receiving vaccinations can be encouraged by a form of aid known as [[conditional cash transfer]]s.<ref name=Brazil>{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1113/p01s03-woam.html?page=1|title=Brazil becomes antipoverty showcase|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=13 November 2008|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724225956/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2008/1113/p01s03-woam.html?page=1|url-status=live}}</ref> In Mexico, for example, dropout rates of 16- to 19-year-olds in rural area dropped by 20% and children gained half an inch in height.<ref name=csm>{{cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0921/p06s10-woam.html|title=Latin America makes dent in poverty with 'conditional cash' programs|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=21 September 2009|access-date=21 June 2011|archive-date=26 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926054924/http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0921/p06s10-woam.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Initial fears that the program would encourage families to stay at home rather than work to collect benefits have proven to be unfounded. Instead, there is less excuse for neglectful behavior as, for example, children stopped begging on the streets instead of going to school because it could result in suspension from the program.<ref name=csm/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page