Parental Incentive Program
Featured Guest Blogger July 18th, 2008
Thank you to Tiffany Gabrielson, Boston College Law Student and Sloan Network Research Assistant, for today’s guest blog entry.
Over a year after it was established, the eyes of the world are still on a privately funded New York program that offers financial incentives to impoverished parents. The controversial program is aimed at families in the poorest New York neighborhoods and can only be used by families whose income falls well below the poverty line. Through privately collected funds, parents are offered yearly payments of up to $5,000 for assisting their children in receiving the educational and medical assistance that all children need. The money is earned in increments, depending upon what task is performed. Rewards are given for school performance, such as children who receive high scores on standardized tests or have exemplary school attendance records and for proper medical and dental attention.
The program is inevitably praised by some and condemned by others. Opponents argue that such incentives serve to reward parents for performing tasks that they are already morally obligated to do, tasks which many of the parents were doing anyway. However, these programs are not merely meant to spur parents into action. They are also designed to increase children’s access to the educational and medical help that they so desperately need. To even qualify for this program, a family must have a financial situation that falls so far below the poverty line that the cost of transportation alone to a school, dentist’s office, or hospital can sometimes be unmanageable. A parent should not have to choose between spending his last few dollars of the month on bus fare to attend a student-teacher conference and spending it on bread to feed his family. By providing this incentive program, perhaps New York has found a way to make both choices feasible.
Because this program is still in its infancy, it might be difficult to see just how effective it truly is, especially before the trial ends in September of 2009. While many already argue that the cost of the program will be more then recouped in the amount the government will save in costs associated with high poverty rates, it is not clear whether the program will have anything other then short term success on the participating children. Only time will tell if these programs will be successful in the long run. Cash incentive programs have been tried globally in places such as Mexico and Bangladesh, and have had varying success. If this program prospers, then it is certain that other states are not far behind in adopting their own versions. I would like to see if variations arise that extend to additional families who make a living wage but still do not have the financial freedom to miss work in order to attend a conference or to take care of an ailing child.
I truly hope that through this program New York has found a way to break the cycle of poverty that plagues so many families. By providing these incentives, children may very well become better educated and healthier in all stages of their lives. If so, then New York is undeniably giving these children the possibility of a much brighter future.
Thoughts?
