Poverty is dropping around the world. In 1981, more than half the globe lived on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. By 1990, that number fell to 43 percent, and today it’s at 21 percent.
But almost all the gains have come from pulling up those just under the extreme poverty line, rather than from progress amid the ultrapoor: roughly the half-billion people who live on less than 75 cents a day. These truly destitute people have tended to stay that way.
The difference between poor and ultrapoor isn’t just one of degree. Being ultrapoor has an extra component: it is a trap so deep, people can’t take advantage of ways to improve their lives.
They may not send their children to school, because they don’t believe they could keep them in school long enough to benefit from education. They don’t take microcredit loans, because they lack the skills to use them and the confidence that they can repay.
.. A second ingredient was a small regular grant of food or cash.That allowed participants to take time off from labor (or begging) to learn their new business. It also protected the business; they had less reason to sell the cow to buy food.