Policies Against Poverty: an Evalution

The explicit aim of these programs is to take people out of poverty, or at least to reduce poverty intensity. If the benefit is high enough to reach the poverty threshold, there are no time limits and the take-up rate is 100%, then poverty is automatically defeated (but this would be much too expensive). Otherwise, when benefits are low and support is not always granted until the end of the poverty spell if skills and social networks deteriorate with time elapsed in unemployment people may remain trapped into poverty. In this light, the number of poor and the length of poverty spells are also relevant outcomes.