Dr. Youngmi Kim Presents on Anti-Poverty Policies and Programs
The C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR) at VCU recently held a new Discovery Dialogues seminar at the Main Hospital’s Learning Center.
Youngmi Kim, Ph.D., assistant professor for the VCU School of Social Work, led the presentation titled, “Discovering Innovative Anti-Poverty Policies and Programs.”
“The United States is one of the richest countries, yet we also have a high population of poor citizens compared to other developed countries,” said Kim. “It’s important to look at the social safety nets we have in place and critically analyze what is and isn’t working.”
According to the United States Census Bureau, the official poverty rate of the U.S. population in 2014 was 14.8 percent (46.7 million people). This rate reflects a fourth consistent year that the number of people in poverty at the national level has not statistically differed from the previous year’s estimates [source].
Kim pointed to a number of contributing factors that make up the poverty rate, including education, employment, disability, rates of income versus consumption, and opportunities in the community.
In addition to reviewing the asset-building programs and policies in place by the U.S. government, Kim discussed the differences between asset poverty and income poverty. She identified inadvertent negative side effects of some asset-building policies and pointed out that poor populations do not always have the same support nor incentives for asset accumulation, especially when faced with the threat of losing other benefits, such as welfare and Medicaid.
“There is more and more research being done that really focuses on helping poorer populations save for the future,” said Kim. “We are learning how to better motivate and educate people to not only save for themselves, but also for their children’s future.”
Categories Community Engagement, Health Equity