Poverty, wealth inequality, and financial inclusion among castes in Hindu and Muslim communities in Uttar Pradesh, India

This study estimates poverty, wealth inequality, and financial inclusion, for the first time, at the sub-caste level in both Hindus and Muslims using a unique survey data collected from 7124 households in Uttar Pradesh, India, during 2014-2015. The results confirm the existing hypothesis that Brahmins, Thakurs, and other Hindu general castes have higher wealth accumulation, lower poverty, and lesser exclusion from formal financial services than Dalits. Exclusion from formal financial services forces Dalits to depend primarily on informal financial sources for borrowing—which leads to financial misfortune and further dragging them into a vicious cycle of poverty.

Understanding FinTech and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) for Financial Inclusion

For a very long period of time, financial inclusion researchers have been addressing the barriers that prevent unprivileged people from accessing and using financial services. Financial exclusion is an underlying social problem that dates from the creation of the first financial system. Without the access to the banking and financial infrastructures, the unbanked are perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty. Blockchain is leading this transformation of allowing unbanked and underbanked people to have access and interact with the finance industry. The promise of a digital economy is starting to take shape, as financial technology (FinTech) companies are evolving the concept of democratization of access. Decentralized finance (DeFi) is expanding the possibilities of financial technology by creating an ecosystem based on transparency, accessibility, and efficiency. We are witnessing a paradigm shift for most of the financial services which are remodeling the accessibility and usability of these services, addressing the excluded and underserved population.

Effect of Major Illness Insurance on Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence From China

Disease is the primary cause of poverty in China. Health insurance is an essential mechanism for managing health risks and addressing the risk of financial loss. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) waves from 2010 to 2016, this study develops a random forest method to assess households' vulnerability to poverty and then examines the impact of major illness insurance on vulnerability to poverty by focusing on the rollout period of a major illness insurance scheme. The research also examines the impact of increased major illness insurance coverage on poverty reduction by focusing on the change from low- to high-coverage health insurance. The findings indicate that major illness insurance and improvements in the degree of coverage significantly reduce vulnerability to poverty. In addition, major illness insurance is found to alleviate the vicious cycle of poverty and disease through the mechanism of increasing household income, and its effect has strengthened over time. Compared to other poverty reduction policies, major illness insurance has a greater influence on poverty alleviation.

Understanding the Effects of COVID-19 on the Education of Low-Income Students in Khamariya, Nepal

This paper addresses the impacts COVID-19 is having on the learning of upper-primary students in a remote community in Nepal. These findings are based on interviews with 15 students in Khamariya— a small village with limited infrastructure and minimal access to technology. In this paper, the education system in Nepal before COVID-19 is discussed and compared with the current learning that is happening throughout the pandemic. The shortcomings of government solutions are discussed, the benefits of the pandemic on students' learning are evaluated, and the implications of changes in students’ learning due to the pandemic are analyzed. Overall, through the interviews, it has been determined that the education system in remote communities in Nepal before the pandemic was below standard. However, COVID-19 is exacerbating these negative aspects of the education system even further. The pandemic is specifically targeting impoverished students’ education. As well, it is increasing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, which is contributing to the cycle of poverty.

Twice Neglected? Neglected Diseases in Neglected Populations

It is unfortunately true that clinicians lack the necessary evidence to know how to use medications properly in large sections of the population, and we do not have optimal drugs to use in many Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). NTD’s often disproportionately affect neglected populations such as children and pregnant women. As reliable access to safe, effective preventives and treatments can break the cycle of poverty, illness, and ensuing debility that further perpetuates poverty, it is of paramount importance to investigate and develop new medicines for neglected populations suffering from NTDs. Furthermore, there is not only a need to develop and evaluate novel therapies, but also to ensure that these are affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who need them. With this editorial, the British Pharmacological Society hereby launches a call for high-quality articles focusing on NTDs in special populations, to facilitate the reversal of this dual neglect.

Does endogenous variation in stress modulate risk and time preferences?

It has been argued that one dimension of the cycle of poverty is that poverty is a state of chronic stress and that chronic stress impairs decision-making. These poor decisions, made under chronic stress, might include carrying high-interest loans, failure to buy health insurance, gambling or drug use. As such, these decisions can contribute to the cycle of poverty. More specifically, a few studies suggest that increased stress may lead to more risk-aversion and steeper delay-discounting. While the deleterious effects of chronic stress on brain function are well established, much less is known about how chronic stress influences financial decision making specifically. Here, in a longitudinal design within six weeks period we aimed to incorporate biological mechanisms to improve our understanding of how stress influences economic decisions. We used a combination of decision-making tasks, questionnaires, saliva and hair samples within-subject (N=41). We assessed time and risk preferences using hierarchical Bayesian techniques to both pool data and allow heterogeneity in decision making and compared those to cortisol levels and self-reported stress. We found only weak links between endogenous variation in stress and model-based estimates of risk and time preferences. In particular, we found that fluctuations in the stress level measured via hair sample were not only positively correlated with time preferences in the short delay task and risk preferences, but also the decision noise in the risk task. However, relationships for the risk task disappeared when an outlier was removed. Also, we found model-free task measures in the short delay task to be moderately related to both hair cortisol as well as the stressful life events questionnaire measure. For example, we observed that endogenous stress fluctuations and the life change units were negatively correlated with the proportion of later choices. Finally, we established that for the reaction times the curvilinear relationship was preferred to the linear one for those with increase in biological stress level compared to the baseline: when cortisol level increased slightly, participants decided slower, but when stress increased to higher levels, they decided quicker.

Food Aid in the Form of Food for Education - A Critical Analysis between the Food for Schooling Programme and the School Feeding Programme in Maslow's and Dependency Theorist's Perspectives

<p>According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, food is considered a basic physiological need and higher-ordered needs can only be achieved if the basic needs are met. In the education context, for learners to concentrate on learning and for educational institutions to achieve high-quality learning, learners’ physiological needs i.e. food and water must be met before delivering teaching and learning activities. Therefore, different countries introduced ‘Food for Education’ in a form of ‘School Feeding Programme’ and ‘Food For schooling Programme’ to achieve quality education and to redistribute food to poor families. While both programmes might have advantages, this essay argues that a ‘School Feeding Programme’, that practises ‘Onsite Feeding’ can achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, i.e. quality equitable life long learning for all learners. Conversely, a ‘Food for School Programme’ can increase enrolment of both boys and girls, however, it might fail to achieve quality learning and, furthermore, can develop a dependency mentality. Moreover, food delivered as aid is often used to pursue donors’ interests so recipient countries should be monitored, to ensure such aid is carefully directed to priority areas to achieve maximum benefit. Failure can result in recipient countries facing unintended consequences. This essay concludes that the School Feeding Programme should be used for achieving quality learning and to avoid unintended consequences and break the cycle of poverty faced by the underprivileged. </p>

Food Aid in the Form of Food for Education - A Critical Analysis between the Food for Schooling Programme and the School Feeding Programme in Maslow's and Dependency Theorist's Perspectives

<p>According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, food is considered a basic physiological need and higher-ordered needs can only be achieved if the basic needs are met. In the education context, for learners to concentrate on learning and for educational institutions to achieve high-quality learning, learners’ physiological needs i.e. food and water must be met before delivering teaching and learning activities. Therefore, different countries introduced ‘Food for Education’ in a form of ‘School Feeding Programme’ and ‘Food For schooling Programme’ to achieve quality education and to redistribute food to poor families. While both programmes might have advantages, this essay argues that a ‘School Feeding Programme’, that practises ‘Onsite Feeding’ can achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, i.e. quality equitable life long learning for all learners. Conversely, a ‘Food for School Programme’ can increase enrolment of both boys and girls, however, it might fail to achieve quality learning and, furthermore, can develop a dependency mentality. Moreover, food delivered as aid is often used to pursue donors’ interests so recipient countries should be monitored, to ensure such aid is carefully directed to priority areas to achieve maximum benefit. Failure can result in recipient countries facing unintended consequences. This essay concludes that the School Feeding Programme should be used for achieving quality learning and to avoid unintended consequences and break the cycle of poverty faced by the underprivileged. </p>