Paid Out of Poverty?
Giving cash rewards to poor New Yorkers is an idea that's being supported by a prominent Harlem spokesperson. Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone is backing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's suggestion to supply a cash reward to the 1.5 million New Yorkers who take action in breaking the cycle of poverty.
Essentially, those who make the "healthy" choice to do such things as stay in school and regularly see the doctor will be given money. It's an idea that has been successful in countries including Brazil and Mexico, but how would it translate here? Click here for more on the story.
posted by Rachel Natalie Klein at 9:27 AM
2 Comments:
This seems convoluted. I don't know all of the details, even after reading the linked article, but the concept seems to be a patch for what ails us, instead of a solution.
Health care:
If the problem is that people are not going to see doctors regularly, maybe the incentive is to make health care easier and more affordable, instead of rewarding someone externally.
School:
If the problem is that students are dropping out of school or not showing up, the monetary incentive already exists in the form of scholarship dollars. School is the first job we ever have in life. It is a discipline, like any other, to get up and go. In life, you get paid a wage to do it, in school, maybe the incentive to go is being able to do extra-curricular activities or earning scholarship credits toward higher education. We can't pretend that school is not hard work, so we need to be clear what we are rewarding and address the root issues. Why aren't poorer students going to school, or why aren't they succeeding there? Kids never want to believe that what they do today has any bearing on the rest of their lives. It is our responsibility as adults to remind them that doing well in school is meaningful, not just something you HAVE to do. Scholarships are designed to that end. The article seems to suggest that in order to get students to do the 'work' you have to pay them to do it. It's the wrong message-- in life, you don't get to decide not to do something essential because it is unpaid. Not to mention, we taxpayers have paid plenty to make schools (love 'em or hate 'em) continue to exist and function. Education is an essential component in our nation's progress.
At the end of the day, you can't make someone understand that school is important if they or their parents don't believe it is. One can only hope they see the connection before missing their opportunity. This incentive idea is a condescending nod to poor families to suggest that they are not capable of making meaningful choices without dangling the almighty dollar first.
I really feel like these incentives should be done through the tax system, as in so many other areas. But, if philanthropists want to create another scholarship fund to reward kids for doing well in school, great! Spending money to keep kids healthy is also great, but the reason for the current crisis is probably more the cost of health care than the lack of health care education/awareness. People would go see doctors if they could afford it.
Behavior on these issues is easy to change if the incentives get at the root reasons rather than patching the problems.
3:13 PM
Agree with all your points.
However, other countries have shown this to be successful.
Perhaps successful in getting people to doctors and schools.
Perhaps not successful in addressing the root causes of unhealthy choices.
The bottom line, if it makes for healthy choices that have some long term benefit, it is a good thing.
Although, I believe, to break the cycle of poverty, waving a carrot is not going to address root causes.
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