Upward+mobility+for+the+world's+destitute

Adapted from: Rosenberg, T. (2015, May 15). Fixes. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/upward-mobility-for-the-worlds-destitute/?_r=0&action=Click&contentCollection=Fixes&module=BlogPost-ReadMore&pgtype=Blogs%C2%AEion=Body&version=Blog+Main




 * By **
 * [|TINA ROSENBERG] **

 MAY 15, 2015 7:00 AM May 15, 2015 7:00 am 44 Comments

 There’s poor, __and__ then there’s ultrapoor. The ultrapoor are almost always women and largely found in Africa, South Asia and to a __lesser__ extent, parts of Latin America. They are most often rural. They work as maids or field laborers, often paid not with wages but in food scraps. They might have just one dress or sari, and must wash a part of it at a time while wearing it, or stay in the river for modesty till it dries.

Poverty is dropping around the world. In 1981, more than half the world lived on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. By 1990, that number fell to 43 percent, and today it’s at 21 percent.

But almost __all__ the gains have come from pulling up those just under the extreme poverty line, rather than from progress amid the ultrapoor: roughly the half-billion people who live on less than 75 cents a day. These truly destitute people have tended to stay that way. The __difference__ between poor and ultrapoor isn’t just one of degree. Being ultrapoor means something else: it is a trap so deep, people can’t take advantage of ways to improve their lives.

They may not send their children to school, because they don’t __believe__ they could keep them in school long enough to benefit from education. They don’t take small loans, because they lack the skills to use them and the confidence that they can repay.

__Even__ if they do manage to get something — money, perhaps, or a cow — the gains may not last. The money gets spent for food. If the harvest is poor or someone gets sick, they sell the cow. “The bottom section of the population has lived this way for generations and will likely live this way for generations — without a new approach,” said Sadna Samaranayake, project director of the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative in BRAC USA.

One such approach has arrived. In 2002, BRAC started a program in Rangpur, a district in Bangladesh’s north, to help the most destitute “graduate” from poverty.

BRAC started by giving participants money-making assets. __Some__ took goods to start a tiny store or leased a plot of land and bought vegetable seeds, but most families asked for animals. They got two kinds: for example, chickens for a quick return, plus a cow for the long run. They also got special training in how to use their new assets.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16pt;"><range type="comment" id="566156907_3">A second __ingredient__ was a small regular grant of food or cash. That allowed people to take time off from work (or begging) to learn their new business. It also protected the business; they had less reason to sell the cow to buy food. BRAC also helped participants learn how to open a savings account and take preventive health measures. Because extreme poverty isolated many participants socially, BRAC set up a village poverty-reduction committee. Participants also were encouraged to plant vegetable gardens, and near the end of the program they received financial training.</range id="566156907_3">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16pt;">The program was complex and expensive. There has been no research to find out whether any of its pieces can be skipped. It also required working with families intensively for two years.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16pt;">The results, however, were astonishing. Virtually [|all] the participants changed their lives. A year after the program ended, 97 percent had satisfied at least five of 10 indicators (having things like cash savings, steady access to food, diversified income, a latrine, a tin roof, or using family planning) and were considered graduated. Three years later, the number was 98 percent.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16pt;">BRAC and other organizations in Bangladesh now run graduation programs on a wide scale. So far, 1.4 million households have participated — but that still leaves out millions more in Bangladesh who are ultrapoor.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16pt;">Summary

===Most really poor people are found in Africa, Asia and to a lesser extent in Latin America. Being really poor isn't just not having money, it also means not being able to improve your life. The solution is to provide people with money making assets. But in order for this to work, they need small amounts of money, food and time. This allows them to spend time making sure their new businesses are successful. They also need to be able to share their knowledge and help each other, so setting up committees is another way of making this solution work.===