Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Associated Press
NEW YORK
An experimental anti-poverty program that pays the poor for maintaining good habits — $25 to $150 for things such as going to the dentist, staying on the job or opening a bank account — has not exactly been life-changing.
The cash incentives funded with private donations have helped some New Yorkers make better choices. But the program has not encouraged young people to do better in school or adults to keep a job. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the incentives are not the answer to eradicating poverty.
The first analysis of New York’s effort was released Tuesday by a nonprofit social-policy-research group called MDRC that also helped design the program. Researchers are also tracking a control group of another 2,400 families that do not receive payments.
New York City’s program began in 2007 and has bestowed a total of $14 million on 2,400 participating families. The average award per family was $3,000.
Participants were offered 22 various incentives to earn money, ranging in value from $20 to $600. Ninety-eight percent of all families earned at least one reward, but just 65 percent achieved payments in every period they were available.
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