
Data on what poor people buy when they’re just given cash - kafkaesq
http://qz.com/853651/definitive-data-on-what-poor-people-buy-when-theyre-just-given-cash/
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rcdmd
The "definitive data" is a meta-analysis of economic studies and hidden behind
a paywall[1]. The linked article doesn't have any data or charts.

[1]
[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/689575](http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/689575)

~~~
Noseshine
I don't know how controversial it will be to post this here (heavily moderated
/r/science on reddit removed a post when I did this some time ago), but enter
that URL on Sci-Hub _( "The Pirate Bay of science" [0])_ and enjoy:
[http://sci-hub.cc/](http://sci-hub.cc/)

About Sci-Hub: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-
Hub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub)

[0] [http://www.sciencealert.com/this-woman-has-illegally-
uploade...](http://www.sciencealert.com/this-woman-has-illegally-uploaded-
millions-of-journal-articles-in-an-attempt-to-open-up-science)

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jonteru
It's not evident from the short article, but was this a one time payment or
monthly allowance? I would imagine that one time or non regular payment would
work better than monthly so people don't start to rely on it too much and
become lazy.

~~~
nickthemagicman
Where do they teach you to talk like this? What evidence do you have that
giving people money makes them lazy?

There's no evidence for what you just said. It's insane that you believe that.

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blakesterz
>> This negative result is supported by data from Latin America, Africa, and
Asia, for both conditional and unconditional cash transfer programs.

I wonder if the same results are seen in North America?

[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/689575](http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/689575)

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tomohawk
Anecdotal, but I got to know quite a few of the people where I used to live
who were receiving section 8 and other welfare benefits. For pretty much all
of them, anything that could be converted or exchanged for some sort of cash,
would be. Then it was used for drugs. In one case, a mother with 6 children
was due to have heat cut off because she had found a way to divert the money
to drugs instead of to pay for heat. The food stamps for food was similarly
diverted even though her kids didn't have enough to eat.

So, lets say we provide cash payments to people and they still don't pay for
their own basic needs. What then? Are we prepared to say, "too bad you have no
heat this winter. I guess you get to be cold."? Where does it end?

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undersuit
So making it harder to convert benefits to cash doesn't work to stop drug use.
Making drugs illegal doesn't stop drug use. Why do we care about drug use?

As this is your anecdote, did you make any attempts to protect those children?
Maybe give them some food or call Child Protection Services? Or were you just
morally outraged that the mother would use drugs?

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thescribe
On the other hand, society seems to have an interest in making sure children
do not starve, but I think you would be hard pressed to show society has an
interest in subsidizing what amounts to a hobby.

~~~
undersuit
I don't know man. I just did a crappy google search and found that horse
breeding as a hobby allows a certain amount of deductions[1]. OH, but
undersuit that sounds more like a business. Dude, the IRS considers many
factors when deciding if your activity is a business or a hobby.

Most cities subsidize casual sports with public fields and courts.

We have a moral opposition to drugs, not a moral opposition to hobbies.

[1] [https://www.hrblock.com/get-answers/taxes/income/hobby-
loss-...](https://www.hrblock.com/get-answers/taxes/income/hobby-loss-
rules-10798)

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g00gler
Pretty interesting. I use the money I get for holidays almost exclusively for
cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling.

Someone should perform a survey of middle to upper class people and see what
they spend free money on. Are they just projecting their insecurities on other
people?

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protomyth
A nice summary would be: Hope changes spending habits.

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Neliquat
Would this have the same effect if the money was distributed evenly between
the sexes? The articles mention of most money going to mothers seems to skew
the results such that the title seems hopeful at best, and perhaps
disingenuous as written by someone who should know better.

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Yhippa
> Regardless of why, the idea that poor people will use any cash they get for
> cigarettes and alcohol has been laid to waste.

Pretty bold claim.

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gaspoweredcat
kind of a misleading title as it doesnt actually say what its spent on, just
that it isnt spent on cigs and alcohol as they expected

