The Economist - USA (2019-09-28)

The EconomistSeptember 28th 2019 Special reportPoverty in America 11

backlashfromvoterswhothinkthemoney

goestootherpeople’schildren.Butevena

universalchildcredit—asmallamountof

cash givenforeachchild eachmonth—

“probablycomesclosetocuttingchildpov-

ertyinhalfjustonitsown,”saysJaneWald-

fogel,a professorofsocialworkatColum-

bia University. Most of America’s peer

countriesalreadyhavea universalbenefit

scheme.AfterCanadafullyimplemented

itsprogramme,whichoffershigherbene-

fitstopoorerfamilies,thenumberofchil-

drenlivinginpovertyfellbya thirdinjust

twoyears.Ifa similarprogramme—giving

$400permonthforallyoungchildrenand

$340forolderones—wereimplementedin

America,it wouldindeedreducechildpov-

erty by more than half. It would cost

around$300bna year,lessthanthegrandi-

oseproposals pitchedintheDemocraticpresidentialprimary,

suchasa universalbasicincomeandfreecollege.

A slightlylessgenerousproposalalongtheselineshasalready

beenmadebyMichaelBennetandSherrodBrown,twoDemocratic

senators,thoughpublicenthusiasmforithasbeenmuted.The

likelybenefitsarenotmereconjecture.Wheneconomistsexam-

inethelong-termoutcomesforchildrenwhoreceivedmoregen-

erousbenefits,whetherinfoodassistance,taxcreditsoraccessto

healthinsurance,theyfindbiglong-termimprovementsinhealth,

aswellashigheruniversityattendanceandhigherincomes.

Butitisnotenoughtodealwithpovertyatomistically—tore-

duceindividualsufferingthrougha morerobustsafetynet.It must

alsobedealtwithspatiallyandcollectively,meaningthatitmust

bedeconcentrated.Althoughhousingbenefitsareallocatedspo-

radicallyinAmerica(onlya quarterofthosewhoqualifyactually

receivethembecausethebenefitisnotanentitlement,andfunds

arelimited),thereislittleencouragementforfamiliestomoveto-

wardsgoodneighbourhoods.Movingeveryonetoopportunityis

nota scalablesolution,butcouldhappenmoreoften.

Thesameappliestoschools.RuckerJohnsonoftheUniversity

ofCalifornia,Berkeley,hasproducedcompellingresearchshow-

ingclear benefitsforblack children who attendedintegrated

schools,notsegregatedones.Fiveyearsindesegregatedschools

boostedincomesby30%lateroninlife;exposuretointegratedel-

ementaryschoolsreducesthechanceofincarcerationby 22 per-

centagepoints.Unfortunately,thenationaltrendsinincomeseg-

regationbetweentherichandthepoorareheadingintheopposite

direction—increasing15%from 1990 to2010,and40%withinlarge

schooldistricts.ThesameistrueofwhereAmericanfamilieslive.

The ideathatsafety-netprogrammesfunctionasapoverty

trap—or,inthewordsofPaulRyan,a formerHouseSpeaker,as“a

hammockthatlullsable-bodiedpeopletolivesofdependencyand

complacency”—remains.Additionalincomewillincentivisepeo-

pletoworkless.Butit ishardtoimaginerationalpeoplegivingup

workforthemeagresumsofferedfordisability($1,234permonth

onaverage),foodstamps($126permonth)andMedicaid(which

cannotbecashedout).

Thereareimportantwaysinwhichliberals,particularlyvocal

whiteurbanones,alsomisunderstandthepathtoalleviatingpov-

erty.OnecauseofschoolsegregationwithinAmericanmetropol-

itanareasistheintentionalgerrymanderingcausedbyschool-dis-

trictlines.Thiselicitsonlymutedfuryfromthepeoplewhooften

preachthevirtuesofdiversityinotherarenas.“Neighbourhood

schools”driveneighbourhoodeffects—boththebeneficialonesof

poshpartsandtheharmfulonesexperiencedinAmerica’sgrow-

ingghettosandbarrios.Thesamepeoplearestrongcriticsofchar-

terschools,whicharepubliclyfundedbut

privatelyrun,for allegedlydestabilising

traditionalstateschools(andtheirassoci-

ated teachers’ unions). For generations,

poor,minoritychildrenhavereceivedin-

adequateeducationfromtheirsegregated

traditionalschooldistricts.Althoughchar-

terschoolshavesimilarresultswheneval-

uatednationally,theyperformmuchbetter

inthekindofstrugglingurbandistricts—

suchasNewOrleans,NewarkandBoston—

wheretherearemorepoorchildrenwho

needhelp.Among dedicatedDemocratic

voters,58%ofblacksand52%ofHispan-

ics—thegroups who benefitmost from

them—supportcharters,againstjust26%

ofwhites.

Thereisalsoa longstandingreluctance

amongliberalsto discusstheimpactof

familystructureonchildpoverty.Muchofthisstemsfromtheex-

plosivereceptiontotheMoynihanreport—astudypublishedin

1965 thatsoughttoexplaintherootsofblackpovertybyanalysing

out-of-wedlock births—andthe stigmatisingargument thatit

seemedtoimply.WhenDanielPatrickMoynihanwrotehisreport,

arounda quarterofblackchildrenwerebornoutofwedlock.Today

thatshareis70%forblackchildren,morethan50%ofHispanic

childrenand almost30% forwhites—allconcentratedamong

poorlyeducatedmothers.Theofficialpovertyrateforthechildren

ofsinglemothersis39%,comparedwith8%forthoselivingwith

marriedparents.

Thereluctancetoacknowledgethatchildreninstable,two-par-

enthouseholdsdobettermayseemunderstandable.Suchstatis-

ticscanbemarshalledtostigmatisesinglemothers,andtothenar-

gueforbenefitcuts.Somesuggestthatmarriagepromotionisa

worthyavenue,butitisdifficulttoimaginebureaucratssuccess-

fullysteeringsocialnorms.Whatshouldmatterforpolicymakers

isnotattemptingtoapportionblame,butstartingtocharta course

outoftheproblem. 7

Outofwedlock

Sources:CDC;ChildTrends;Joint

EconomicCommittee,SocialCapitalProject

*Womenaged

15 andover

UnitedStates,shareofbirthstounmarriedmothers*

%

0

20

40

60

80

1960 70 80 90 2000 10 17

To t a l

White

Black

Hispanic

2

A

s a poorAmericanitiseasytofeelignored.“We’reforgotten

andbecausewe’repoor,peoplethinkwe’reunimportant,”la-

mentsBarbiAnnMaynard,thewomanagitatingforcleanwaterin

eastern Kentucky,as she sits in her favouritecontemplation

spot—aboulderatopa reclaimedcoalminethatoffersa spectacu-

larvistaofthemountains.BeforeRosazliaGrillierbecameanac-

tivistforcofi, a communitygroupcampaigningforschoolreform

inChicago,shelivedina poorarea,withlittlehope.Shehadyoung

children,notmuchincomeandwassickwithcancer.“Ihadliteral-

lygivenuphopeonanything.Itwasreallya deepdepression,”she

says.Bothwomenaresteel-willedandcommittedtoimproving

theircommunities.Buteventheyarenotimmunetothecreeping

spellsofdespondencythatpovertybrings—apsychologicaldi-

mensiontosufferingthatisnotcapturedbythestatistics.

Disruptingtheintergenerationaltransmissionofpovertyre-

Winningthewar

Thereismuchtodo,butprogressispossible

The future

1