Pathways to End Poverty
Pathways to Ending Poverty seeks to change the way we think about poverty. Today, many start from the premise that poverty is intractable and can at best be lowered only slightly. We aim to create a new framework in which we recognize that if we put in place specific “policy packages,” poverty can be dramatically reduced to close to zero—to a residual 2%. This new framework, based on the best evidence about which policy changes actually lower poverty and rigorous modeling, shifts the debate to which combinations of policies makes the most sense for Wisconsin and Milwaukee.
The initiative will:
- Create a realistic poverty line for Wisconsin and Milwaukee. The current poverty line, dating to the early 1960s, is no longer valid. Steve Holt, who has written extensively on poverty issues for the Brookings Institution and other groups, has prepared a report that examines the alternative poverty measures developed by the National Academy of Sciences, assesses what New York City did in creating its own poverty line, and recommends a new and improved measure for Wisconsin and Milwaukee.
Steve Holt’s final report (PDF) is now available. We anticipate that the Institute for Research on Poverty, which published in April 2009 “The First Wisconsin Poverty Report (PDF),” will also be making recommendations for an improved poverty measure.
- Establish a specific goal for reducing poverty in Wisconsin. Our current goal is to reduce poverty from the current level of 11% to a residual 2%.
- Determine which “policy packages” of changes in our current systems of need-based or work-based assistance, social insurance, incentives and investments are likely to get Wisconsin to the residual 2% poverty goal. We will look at what the evidence says as we put together alternative combinations of policy change. We will also consult with a number of local advisors such as Julie Kerksick, Sheri Johnson, Marc Levine, Karl Scholz, Tim Smeeding and Don Sykes; and national experts such as Gordon Berlin, Greg Duncan, Peter Edelman, Eboni Howard and Mark Rank.
- Retain an independent, analytic organization to test the 3-5 most sensible “policy packages” to confirm that they reduce poverty to a residual 2%; quantify estimated costs; and assess likely positive side-effects (e.g., on crime, violence, family formation, and above all on health outcomes) and unintended negative consequences. This is the heart of the project.
With support from the Salvation Army, we have completed an initial Health Impact Assessment that estimates the health benefits of reducing poverty to single digits. Download PDFs of the "Health Impact Assessment Debriefing": PowerPoint presentation and full report.
- Communicate to local and national policymakers the results about which “policy packages” do the best job of reducing poverty to a residual level, at the lowest cost and with the best side-effects.
Pathways to Ending Poverty is a unique initiative to reduce poverty to close to zero. We have been directly influenced by work from the Center for American Progress and the “Half in Ten Campaign,” which have decided that cutting poverty by 50% within a decade is their goal, producing an Urban Institute report that shows how to reduce poverty by 26%.
