Editing Poverty (section)

=== 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 spending}}

[[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]] 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 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 &#124; 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> 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> 

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 modified its 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> [[Central bank digital currency|Central bank digital currencies]] are argued to be an efficient tool in direct cash transfers to the poor as it can reach the [[unbanked]] and be more cost effective without having to physically send money and without needing an intermediary such as a bank.<ref name=imfblog/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bsr.org/en/emerging-issues/central-banks-embrace-digital-currencies|title=Central Banks Embrace Digital Currencies|newspaper=Business for Social Responsibility|date=|access-date=13 May 2024}}</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 |hdl=10986/15125 |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|Unbanked|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 borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history.. 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 more importance on having a safe place to save money than on 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/> A large portion of the poor are [[unbanked]] because it is often not profitable to open bank accounts for the poor. One altervative option is the [[postal savings system]]. Another option is [[mobile banking]] which utilizes the wide availability of mobile phones.<ref name=time.com/> This usually involves a network of agents of mostly shopkeepers who would take deposits in cash and translate these onto an 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> [[Central bank digital currency|Central bank digital currencies]] could allow, even in areas without internet access, digital transactions with little or no cost using simple feature phones.<ref name=imfblog>{{Cite web|last1=Habtamu |first1=Fuje |last2=Quayyum|first2=Saad|last3=Ouattara|first3= Franck|date=June 24, 2022 |title=More African Central Banks Are Exploring Digital Currencies |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2022/06/23/blog-africa-cbdc |access-date=2024-05-05 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]]}}</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 |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>

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/>