To Beat Back Poverty, Pay the Poor!

Interesting Opinionator Blog posting on The New York Times website. Under a program in about 40 countries, including Brazil: Bolsa Familia (Family Grant) and Mexico: Oportunidades, the government provides money to poor people who abide by various simple rules such as

families must keep their children in school and go for regular medical checkups, and mom must attend workshops on subjects like nutrition or disease prevention. The payments almost always go to women, as they are the most likely to spend the money on their families. The elegant idea behind conditional cash transfers is to combat poverty today while breaking the cycle of poverty for tomorrow.

Read it online at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/to-beat-back-poverty-pay-the-poor/