Let Them Eat Cash

New York Times
The Opinion Pages | Op-Ed Contributor
By Christopher Blattman
June 29, 2014

A CHINESE millionaire tried to give $300 (and lunch) to homeless men and women in New York last week. This didn’t sit well with the nonprofit New York City Rescue Mission. The Rescue Mission offered to help with lunch, but wouldn’t cooperate in handing out cash. So midway through a meal of sesame-crusted tuna and filet of beef, some 200 homeless people discovered that they would not be getting money. Instead, the Rescue Mission would accept $90,000 on their behalf. You can imagine the anger and humiliation.

The millionaire, a recycling tycoon named Chen Guangbiao, wanted to set an example of generosity in the world’s financial capital. To announce the $300 giveaway, he’d taken out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times.

The executive director of Rescue Mission said he was worried that people might spend the handout on drugs or alcohol. This pessimism (and paternalism) is common and understandable. But evidence from other countries suggests we should be more optimistic.

Globally, cash is a major tool to fight extreme poverty. The United Nations is handing out ATM cards to Syrian refugees alongside sacks of grain. The evidence suggests these cash programs work. There have been randomized trials of cash grants to poor Mexican families, Kenyan villagers, Malawian schoolgirls and many others. The results show that sometimes people just eat better or live in better homes. Often, though, they start businesses and earn more.

In Uganda, my colleagues and I worked with a nonprofit that offered $150 and five days of business planning to 900 of the poorest women in the world. After 18 months, the women had twice the incomes of a random control group.

I also worked with the Ugandan government to study what happened when it gave groups of 20 poor people $8,000 in return for a business proposal. My colleagues and I followed hundreds of groups that did and did not get grants. Those who did mostly invested in trades like carpentry. Four years later, their earnings were about 40 percent higher than those of a random control group.

The poor do not waste grants. Recently, two World Bank economists looked at 19 cash transfer studies in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Almost all showed alcohol and tobacco spending fell or stayed the same. Only two showed any significant increase, and even there the evidence was mixed.

You might worry handouts encourage idleness. But in most experiments, people worked more after they received grants.

You might also worry that the poorest of New York are different. The average person in Uganda is impoverished; it’s easy to believe he would make good decisions with cash. But a homeless person in New York is not average. Substance abuse is pervasive. Maybe panhandlers here are different from the global poor.

I used to believe this. Now I’m not sure. A few years ago, I started working in Liberia’s urban slums. My colleagues and I sought out men who were homeless or made their living dealing drugs or stealing. Many abused alcohol and drugs. We tested different programs in a randomized trial of a thousand men. One thing we tried was giving out $200 in cash.

Almost no men wasted it. In the months after they got the cash, most dressed, ate and lived better. Unlike the Ugandans, however, whose new businesses kept growing, the Liberian men were back where they started a year later. Two hundred dollars was not enough to turn them into businessmen. But it brought them a better life for a while, which is the fundamental goal of any welfare program. We also tested a counseling program to reduce crime and violence. It worked a little on its own, but had the largest impact when combined with cash.

I haven’t spent any time with the homeless in the United States. Maybe I’d see that the differences are profound. But I ask myself: If homeless people and drug users in Liberia don’t misuse cash, why would we expect the homeless in New York to waste it?

In 2010, Jim Rankin, a reporter for The Toronto Star, asked himself the same question. So he handed out five $50 prepaid Visa and MasterCard gift cards to panhandlers. What did they buy? Mostly food. Some phone minutes and clothes. A couple bought liquor as well.

Back to the millionaire and the mission. The Rescue Mission has every right to be cautious. Perhaps our first duty is to do no harm, but I say that’s our second duty. Our first is to be skeptical of stereotypes of those we purport to help.

These stereotypes have consequences: The Family Independence Initiative tried paying poor American families in return for setting and meeting goals. Its demonstration project showed promising results. But the No. 1 obstacle the organization said it faced? Mistrust by donors and other nonprofits who held hard to the view that poor people can’t make good decisions.

Here in New York, the Opportunity NYC Family Rewards program has experimented with cash transfers to poor families. It sent $8,700 over three years to thousands of families. A randomized evaluation showed that self-employment went up and hunger and extreme hardship went down, at least while the cash transfers lasted.

These programs didn’t target the hard-core homeless. Are they so different? I don’t know. Even if handing out cash works, it’s surely only part of a larger solution. But why not try?

Christopher Blattman is an associate professor in the political science department and at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia.

Handout or a handup?

Richmond Times Dispatch
Faith & Values
Posted: Saturday, July 26, 2014
By Stephen Sowulewski

"It's always best to give a hand up, not a handout"

Values are something that we possess that help to anchor us, and more important, our value system gives us a discerning lens with which we live our lives. One of the core values that I embrace is hard work. I am grateful to my parents for instilling that value in me, and I marvel at their generation (the baby boomers) for the amazing work ethic that they espouse. It has been said that one does not get anywhere without hard work - I totally agree.

Learning the value of hard work begins early: the chores we do as kids, the part-time jobs we hold as teenagers and the vocations we seek in our quest to earn an honest day's living. Unfortunately, we live in an age that some like to call the "now generation." I have heard this phrase uttered by some who might think that my generation (X) or generation Y would do well by hearing this assertion.

I do not take offense to this phrase as I think it has a lot of truth to it. My father worked 36.3 years in a General Motors factory in less-than-comfortable conditions so that he could provide for his family. On his last day of work, I accompanied him and quickly learned just how loud and uncomfortable it must have been to work in that plant on a summer day - hotter than the hottest day outside in Michigan. I would say that qualifies as hard work.

My mother stayed at home to raise my sister and me, and what a testament to hard work that is. My mother did a fantastic job raising us even through the challenges of my sister's illness, not to mention her daily duties in keeping our household running smoothly. This was no easy task as she also was a caregiver to my grandparents, as was my father after he finished work for the day. Hard work, you bet!

Wanting things now and expecting that we get them, or that we deserve them just because, is a line of thinking that I simply cannot comprehend. For example, when I volunteered to build houses in Durban, South Africa, in an area ravaged by apartheid, I soon learned that the recipients of these houses would be putting their own "sweat equity" into the construction of the house along with a team of others - a stellar example of a hand up and definitely not a handout.

Take another example: throwing money at a situation instead of teaching people how to reap the fruits of their labor. Still another example might point to those who try to keep pace with others and find themselves in financial turmoil in the desire to acquire items that they otherwise would not be able to afford.

So whether it was the sage advice of a teacher or unconditional support of a loved one or friend, knowing that help came with hard work on the receiving end makes the experience even more rewarding. No matter what age you happen to be, I am confident that you can recall a time when someone gave you that helping hand during the course of your lifetime.

Stephen Sowulewski is an associate professor of health at Reynolds Community College and a parishioner at St. Michael's Catholic Church.

World Bank Praises Haiti

Caribbean News Now!
Published on July 11, 2014















"World Bank praises Haiti's recovery progress and calls for opportunities for all"

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- At the end of a three-day trip, World Bank managing director and chief operating officer, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, commended the government of Haiti for the progress in the country’s recovery and called for broadening economic and social opportunities for all Haitians especially in rural areas.

"The Haiti I saw over the last days is very different from the country I saw during my visit in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. I am encouraged by the visible progress. More than 1.3 million people moved from camps to neighborhoods. Many now live in safer homes,” she said. “Extreme poverty has declined and access to some basic services has improved over the last twelve years. This is good news, but rural Haitians have yet to benefit from these gains.”

According to the 2012 household survey, which was developed by the National Observatory on Poverty and Social Exclusion (ONPES) and with support from the World Bank, extreme poverty declined from 31 to 24 percent between 2000 and 2012. Most of these gains have been in urban areas with little progress in rural areas, where 4 out of 10 Haitians remain extremely poor.

Haitians have also benefited from better access to some services. The biggest success has been in education, where participation rates of school-age children rose from 78 to 90 percent. However, the quality of education remains low. Only one-third of all children aged 14 are in the appropriate grade for their age.

Vulnerability and income inequality remains very high in Haiti. According to the data, 2.5 million Haitians living on two dollars a day are in danger of falling back into poverty in case of an economic shock or natural disaster.

During her visit, Indrawati who was accompanied by Jorge Familiar, the recently appointed World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, discussed with Haiti’s development cabinet about the country’s economic opportunities.

Indrawati travelled with the minister of economy and finance, Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie and minister of agriculture, Thomas Jacques, to the southern municipalities of Les Cayes to meet farmers and visit a World Bank supported project. The initiative, implemented by the ministry of agriculture, is part of the national agriculture strategy and aims to boost productivity by training farmers and helping them purchase seeds, fertilizers and pesticides through smart subsidies.

In nearby Simon, inhabitants explained how a water supply and sanitation project provides the nearly 60,000 people in this remote community with clean water and helps the population protect itself against cholera.

“Globally, rural poverty is often higher and more difficult to fight than in urban areas. But providing education, health services, and jobs to these communities is critical to promote equal access to a better life for all Haitians,” said Indrawati. “We support the Haitian government’s efforts to extend the successes they achieved in the cities to remote and underserved areas.”

Working with the National Poverty and Social Exclusion Observatory (ONPES) and Haitian Statistic and IT Institute (IHSI), the World Bank is conducting a full poverty assessment to be released later in the year. Detailed data and evidence from the survey will help identify priorities for public investments and improve service delivery to the poor.

New cardinal brings happiness & visibility to Haiti

Jim McManus  |  Jul. 4, 2014

In February, Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti, became the 215-year-old island nation's first Roman Catholic cardinal. It was a move that surprised many because Langlois was not an archbishop, had not spent much time outside Haiti, and, at 55, is relatively young.

Langlois is well-known in Haiti, though, where his low-key, open and friendly demeanor seemingly absorb, and reflect, the Haitian experience. Haiti, with a population of 9.5 million, is 85 percent Catholic, and has endured a long history of political upheaval, poverty and intermittent natural disasters.

Even in the poorest countries, like Haiti, there are seeds of hope and progress. A solar-powered clean water company opens in a rural town. A colonial-era dirt road gets paved with new blacktop. A new city marketplace opens next to a port being rebuilt for shipping and tourists. From the north comes news that an old shipwreck has been confirmed as La Santa Maria, one of the three ships first brought to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Les Cayes is a remote southern coastal town of 70,000, a plodding four-hour bus trip from the capital of Port-au-Prince. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption sits across the scrubby town square and the cardinal's office, where just a few staff members help operate the sprawling diocese. Outside, the streets and sidewalks are broken and potholed, and flood when it rains. Inside the cathedral, images of a blond, white Jesus and European saints adorn the altar and walls.


Haiti and Les Cayes provide fertile ground for Pope Francis' determination to focus the attention of the church, and the world, on addressing the problems of the poor.

NCR:
What does it mean for Haiti to have the pope recognize the church by naming its first cardinal?

Langlois:
I think ... this brings a lot of happiness to Haiti in general, the fact that the pope recognizes the church by naming a cardinal. At the same time, the church feels appreciated by Pope Francis, a pope who pays a lot of attention to those in need. Among all the countries in Latin America, in this hemisphere, Haiti is a country in need.

We also think that Pope Francis has given Haiti an opportunity to be more visible to the world, because there is a tendency to forget Haiti, especially after the [2010] earthquake. ... We can also say that this is an opportunity for the church to assume its responsibility even more in this society, which entails organizing the church in every aspect so it can fulfill its mission the way it must in this country, its responsibility to accompany the people in their faith so that we can have a society enlightened by the Gospel, a society which does all that is right to help this country advance.

As a cardinal of the church, what do you hope to do to build connections between Haiti and the church beyond Haiti?

Naturally, the church is connected to one another. But as cardinal, of course I have been involved in this type of work as conference president, the bishop's conference. We have always tried to build bridges between Haiti's churches and other churches, especially after the earthquake. We have been doing this work within the scope of getting closer to each other -- the churches especially -- so that other churches can help Haiti's churches come out of its setbacks, especially after the earthquake.

What does Haiti have to offer to the church?

It's certain that we have the experience of our faith in this country, the way we practice it. We can offer that as an experience to the church. We can offer the hope we carry. The Haitian people, in spite of its suffering, in spite of its troubles, in spite of its misery, all of our Christians have always continued to believe that tomorrow will be better. We think that this is a foundation.

A strong, unshakable faith is very common in our country, among the Haitian people. In spite of all that happened in this country, you will not find a group of people taking their own lives. You will not find a group of people who place themselves in situations where they would risk losing their lives, because they love life.

The church can also offer the universal church the services of many who are called upon to do God's work. In Haiti, we have many missionaries who travel to other countries to lead missions. We have priests who travel to other countries where there are not enough priests; some priests and nuns have gone to other countries, so we have that to offer. We have missionaries who go to other countries; this helps them believe in Jesus Christ, so that they too can be saved. We have all these types of wealth that the universal church is expecting from us. We too can take part in the construction of the church on this earth.

In 1983, Pope John Paul II visited Haiti and said, "Things must change here."
What do you think has changed and what challenges need to be addressed?

Well, there are many things that changed in this country. The church itself has tried to be more visible. It has become more transparent in the eyes of the people. Many parishes have been built, many dioceses have been built, and many people have been called upon to do God's work. ... At the time the pope uttered these words, it was a time when people, at a social level, were fighting for democracy in this country. We were fighting for freedom of the press, and to also be free in this society. We have achieved these benchmarks after Pope John Paul II made this statement. We now see that people can speak without fear. People can express their views in this country. We can also say that democracy has begun to sprout in this country.

But we still have a lot to change. ... We need to change the economic condition of this country. We also need political stability in this country. We need these things. We also need our followers to believe even more, to have a deeper faith and a more solid trust in God.

Pope Francis has spoken frequently about economic justice and the obligations of richer nations to help poorer nations. What does that message mean in the context of Haiti's efforts to build a fair and sustainable economy?

In regards to economic justice, we believe it is something that must be of interest to everyone on this earth. But in Haiti in particular, we know this is a country with so much need. The people have lots of needs. This is also a country where access to education is not available to everyone. This is also a country where those in the majority do not have access to the country's wealth. We believe this ... [is] the way this country was built since the beginning. Since its independence.

It is important that we insist on having economic justice in Haiti. This insistence must be guided through a dialogue with everyone, so that can be conscious of this reality, and to find a way to make some propositions and decide on helping the majority of the people find their share in this country's economy. ...

In reality, the wealth that one possesses, even when one is very intelligent or has the capacity to earn a lot, this wealth does not belong to one alone. One should not use it in a selfish manner. God has placed this wealth in your care so that you can use it in a way to benefit others. This is why justice must lead to love, love for charity, not the kind you hand over to people, but the kind of charity where you want others to share in the wealth that the earth has provided you because the earth's wealth belong to us all.

What are some of the opportunities in Haiti for the church today?

Even now, the Catholic church's membership in Haiti is the highest compared to all other religions. So the people represent our greatest opportunity. In fact, the church exists to also serve the people and at the same time encourage them to help each other. ...

Other opportunities we have: the fact that we are many dioceses, many bishops, many priests, many church members, people who are engaged in the services of the church. So this is a great opportunity, if we really pull together, we display this togetherness required by the church, live together while caring for one another as required by the church, we'll be able to accomplish great things.

Other opportunities we can identify inside the church is the fact that we have God's people, a very receptive crowd ... ready to listen to the message from God, to accept the word of God. This requires that the church is organized in a way to train people, to provide them with the kind of support they need inside the church. ...

The other opportunity is the fact that we have a lot of people inside the church in Haiti who are trained and who can help the church. ... The fact that our church is connected with other churches means that we can also include members of the Haitian diaspora who are Catholic who live abroad. So, this is a great opportunity that we can explore in order to help the church grow inside Haiti and outside of Haiti. ...

The other opportunity is to capitalize on the wealth we have inside the church and inside this country so that it bears great fruits. This would be an important step in assuring that we complete our mission, so we have a great opportunity that a lot of countries do not have. One of the opportunities that is beneficial to the church is that we can run our mission inside this country. There are no obstacles in our way, which means we have the freedom to practice our faith. We can teach religion in our schools, so it is a great opportunity that many others countries do not have.

What are plans for rebuilding the cathedral in Port-au-Prince that was destroyed by the earthquake?

I know there was a design contest organized to determine which of the designs to choose in order to build the cathedral, but we think that those in charge of the archdiocese of Port-au-Prince are still thinking about choosing a design that fits with the characteristics of the country itself. ...

Since this work will take some time, we understand their decision to prioritize a short-term solution by working on the old cathedral that is located next to the big cathedral. They are looking for funds to complete it. Then I think they will be able to concentrate on the big cathedral. This project will require a long time to conduct studies, to raise funds in order to build it; then it will take a long time to actually build it.

[Jim McManus is a former editor of NCR. He traveled to Haiti in May.]