Opportunity NYC
Encyclopedia
Opportunity NYC was an experimental Conditional Cash Transfer
program (CCT) being launched in New York City
by Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
. Announced in April 2007, it is the first CCT program to be launched in the United States or any other developed nation. In its initial phases, it is being funded by a number of private partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation
, the Open Society Institute
, Starr Foundation, AIG
, and Mayor Bloomberg's personal foundation. The program is being evaluated by MDRC
, a nonprofit research firm, using a random assignment research design. Opportunity NYC is administered by Seedco
, a nonprofit community development organization. The program ended on August 31, 2010.
The program hoped to build off the successes of similar programs in Brazil
and in Mexico
, a 10-year-old aid initiative that has been credited with alleviating Mexico's direst poverty and makes demands on participants while offering small but meaningful cash rewards.
The cash payments go to the family, almost always the mother or other female head of the household. Parents can receive from $40 to $100 a month if they keep up with responsibilities such as taking their children to the doctor or keeping them in school.
The program has three components: an education, health and work component. The education component gave money for certain milestones, including $50/month for 95% high school attendance, $600 for each Regent exam passed by a high school student, and $25 per parent-teacher conference the parents attended. The health component gave money for health related milestones, including $200 for each family member who received a non-emergency checkup from a doctor, and $200 upon completion of a pediatrician advised Early Intervention evaluation for a child under 30 months. The work component gives families $300 for someone working an average of 30 hours/week for 2 months, or between $300-$600 for completing an education or professional training course.
The World Bank
, considers that "Conditional cash transfers provide money directly to poor families via a 'social contract' with the beneficiaries – for example, sending children to school regularly or bringing them to health centers. For extremely poor families, cash provides emergency assistance, while the conditionalities promote longer-term investments in human capital."
Those on the right applaud the system because it relies on individual initiative and acts as an investment in the future: Children in the program are healthier, they stay in school longer and they grow up with a better chance to become productive citizens. Those on the left say the program helps stabilize troubled families and gives poor children more consistent access to society's benefits.
, and data from the first two years of the program has been released, with the hope that research covering all 3 years of the program will be released in March 2011.
The data shows the program in terms of overall poverty, created the greatest improvement in reducing the share of families living in severe poverty from 30% to 17%, and increased the likelihood that parents had bank accounts. In terms of education, positive results were most seen in high school and less in elementary and middle school students. The program group was shown to have an increased likelihood of passing at least two Regents exams by 6%, and increased the likelihood of having a 95% or better attendance by 15%. The effects of the program on improving heath was marginal, as the most significant statistic was an increase in the receipt of at least two preventative dental care visits by 10%. The program also had marginal effects in enhancing the parents’ work and training, as it had a 2-3% greater likelihood of receiving a training certificate or associates degree.
Conditional Cash Transfer
Conditional cash transfer programs aim to reduce poverty by making welfare programs conditional upon the receivers' actions. The government only transfers the money to persons who meet certain criteria...
program (CCT) being launched in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. Announced in April 2007, it is the first CCT program to be launched in the United States or any other developed nation. In its initial phases, it is being funded by a number of private partners including The Rockefeller Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation
Robin Hood Foundation
The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization, which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York, United States.-History:Founded in 1988, Robin Hood was the brainchild of hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones...
, the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
, Starr Foundation, AIG
AIG
AIG is American International Group, a major American insurance corporation.AIG may also refer to:* And-inverter graph, a concept in computer theory* Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization in the U.S.* Arta Industrial Group in Iran...
, and Mayor Bloomberg's personal foundation. The program is being evaluated by MDRC
MDRC
MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect the poor. It was originally named the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation...
, a nonprofit research firm, using a random assignment research design. Opportunity NYC is administered by Seedco
Seedco
Seedco, the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, is a national, nonprofit, community development organization that works with local organizations in low-income communities to promote economic advancement and help people move out of poverty...
, a nonprofit community development organization. The program ended on August 31, 2010.
The program hoped to build off the successes of similar programs in Brazil
Bolsa Família
Bolsa Família is a social welfare program of the Brazilian government, part of the Fome Zero network of federal assistance programs. Bolsa Família provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families; if they have children, families must ensure that the infants attend school and are vaccinated...
and in Mexico
Oportunidades
Oportunidades is a government social assistance program in Mexico founded in 2002, based on a previous program called Progresa, created in 1997. It is designed to target poverty by providing cash payments to families in exchange for regular school attendance, health clinic visits, and nutritional...
, a 10-year-old aid initiative that has been credited with alleviating Mexico's direst poverty and makes demands on participants while offering small but meaningful cash rewards.
The cash payments go to the family, almost always the mother or other female head of the household. Parents can receive from $40 to $100 a month if they keep up with responsibilities such as taking their children to the doctor or keeping them in school.
The program has three components: an education, health and work component. The education component gave money for certain milestones, including $50/month for 95% high school attendance, $600 for each Regent exam passed by a high school student, and $25 per parent-teacher conference the parents attended. The health component gave money for health related milestones, including $200 for each family member who received a non-emergency checkup from a doctor, and $200 upon completion of a pediatrician advised Early Intervention evaluation for a child under 30 months. The work component gives families $300 for someone working an average of 30 hours/week for 2 months, or between $300-$600 for completing an education or professional training course.
The World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, considers that "Conditional cash transfers provide money directly to poor families via a 'social contract' with the beneficiaries – for example, sending children to school regularly or bringing them to health centers. For extremely poor families, cash provides emergency assistance, while the conditionalities promote longer-term investments in human capital."
Those on the right applaud the system because it relies on individual initiative and acts as an investment in the future: Children in the program are healthier, they stay in school longer and they grow up with a better chance to become productive citizens. Those on the left say the program helps stabilize troubled families and gives poor children more consistent access to society's benefits.
Results of Opportunity NYC
The program was constantly evaluated by MDRCMDRC
MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect the poor. It was originally named the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation...
, and data from the first two years of the program has been released, with the hope that research covering all 3 years of the program will be released in March 2011.
The data shows the program in terms of overall poverty, created the greatest improvement in reducing the share of families living in severe poverty from 30% to 17%, and increased the likelihood that parents had bank accounts. In terms of education, positive results were most seen in high school and less in elementary and middle school students. The program group was shown to have an increased likelihood of passing at least two Regents exams by 6%, and increased the likelihood of having a 95% or better attendance by 15%. The effects of the program on improving heath was marginal, as the most significant statistic was an increase in the receipt of at least two preventative dental care visits by 10%. The program also had marginal effects in enhancing the parents’ work and training, as it had a 2-3% greater likelihood of receiving a training certificate or associates degree.
Further reading
- Família: Changing the Lives of Millions in Brazil. The World Bank, Aug. 22 2007
- GARFINKEL, Irwin. Reducing insecurity: The principal objective of income transfers ? University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Opportunity NYC homepage
- MDRC's description of the research design for the Opportunity NYC evaluation
- McMAHON, Colin. NYC program will try to buy good parenting. Chicago: Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2007
- Do the right things- Article from the Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....