— Similar experiments have been conducted by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The World Bank has hailed the success of similar programs in Mexico as “powerful proof that well-designed public programs can have significant effects on critical social indicators.” But the Memphis Family Rewards Program has its critics. Even the program’s caseworkers admit they’d like to be paid just for doing their job. But the program’s participants say it’s not about the cash incentives — they were working anyway. The program gives them another weapon in their ongoing battle to keep their kids off the streets. POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush writes for POLITICO Magazine: http://politi.co/1oI2cEP.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Paying kids
PAID BY THE GRADE: Imagine a world where kids are paid to
go to school. An acceptable attendance record gets you $40 a month. An A on a
report card gets you $30. Taking a college entrance exam like the ACT banks you
$50. And parents are awarded, too. Adults get a $150 monthly bonus, up to
$1,800 a year, just for working full-time. Would that kind of system fight
poverty? The Memphis Family Rewards Program wants to find out. “I had my first
baby when I was 14 years old. You know, that’s kind of the whole story right
there,” said 35-year-old Tamica Gordon-Cole. Three years ago, Gordon-Cole was
one of 600 people (most of them single mothers) selected for the program. Now,
she’s surrounded by nine children — five of them her own kids, four young
relatives who might have been placed in foster care if she hadn’t taken them
in. They live in a subdivision with perfect white railings and faux granite
countertops. Their neighbors: Other families drawn from housing projects around
Memphis.
— Similar experiments have been conducted by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The World Bank has hailed the success of similar programs in Mexico as “powerful proof that well-designed public programs can have significant effects on critical social indicators.” But the Memphis Family Rewards Program has its critics. Even the program’s caseworkers admit they’d like to be paid just for doing their job. But the program’s participants say it’s not about the cash incentives — they were working anyway. The program gives them another weapon in their ongoing battle to keep their kids off the streets. POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush writes for POLITICO Magazine: http://politi.co/1oI2cEP.
— Similar experiments have been conducted by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The World Bank has hailed the success of similar programs in Mexico as “powerful proof that well-designed public programs can have significant effects on critical social indicators.” But the Memphis Family Rewards Program has its critics. Even the program’s caseworkers admit they’d like to be paid just for doing their job. But the program’s participants say it’s not about the cash incentives — they were working anyway. The program gives them another weapon in their ongoing battle to keep their kids off the streets. POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush writes for POLITICO Magazine: http://politi.co/1oI2cEP.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment