A large share of persistent poverty involves people far from average in ability to self‑manage, often due to serious mental illness or dysfunction. For these cases, cash alone shows limited effects, implying the need for intensive, targeted interventions rather than universal transfers. Policy should distinguish transient need from chronic impairment.
— It redirects anti‑poverty strategy toward disability and mental health capacity as core drivers, changing how success and resource allocation are defined.
Isegoria
2025.10.05
80% relevant
The article reports that long‑term sickness—especially mental and behavioral conditions—now dominates UK disability claims (e.g., 69% citing depression/anxiety; 48% of disabled workers citing mental illness) and that re‑entry to work after health‑related inactivity is just 3.8% in a year, aligning with the thesis that persistent non‑work and poverty concentrate in severe impairment and dysfunction rather than transient need.
Cremieux
2025.09.26
78% relevant
The article shows that long, continuous poverty spells are rare and most entrants exit within two years (Larrimore, Mortenson, Splinter 2020), implying remaining persistent poverty concentrates in harder-to-serve cases—aligning with the claim that chronic poverty clusters among those far from average self-management capacity.
Matthew Yglesias
2025.08.27
70% relevant
His claim that many American poor struggle with habits and life‑management implies persistent poverty concentrates in dysfunction, aligning with the thesis that chronic cases need intensive, targeted services rather than generic cash.
Matt Bruenig
2025.08.21
65% relevant
Piper’s conclusion that cash may be best in emergencies and specific contexts implicitly aligns with evidence that cash alone shows limited effects for populations with serious dysfunction, pointing toward more targeted supports.
Arnold Kling
2025.08.20
100% relevant
Kling cites Sam Altman’s sister and notes poverty is concentrated among those “far from the middle of the bell curve in terms of their ability to take care of themselves.”
Kelsey Piper
2025.08.19
90% relevant
The article reports that sizable monthly cash transfers to homeless adults, new mothers, and poor families produced minimal lasting gains, which aligns with the claim that persistent poverty often involves severe dysfunction where cash alone underperforms and targeted services are needed.
Lorenzo Warby
2025.08.19
70% relevant
By tying weak executive function to both poverty and crime, the piece echoes the claim that persistent poverty clusters in severe impairment and requires different policy than blanket transfers, which many politicians underweight.