NYC mayor’s plan: Pay the poor to make good life decisions

My dear friend Susan “The Source” sent me this article; I’m curious about the LR’s reaction to it:

Poor New Yorkers who make healthy choices ? such as staying in school and regularly seeing the doctor ? should be rewarded with cash to help break the cycle of poverty, Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested Monday.

The idea, which has seen success in countries including Brazil and Mexico, developed out of an anti-poverty commission’s report released Monday. The commission did not specifically propose using rewards but did suggest the city find innovative ways to help its 1.5 million poor lift themselves out of poverty. …

[The] deputy mayor for health and human services, Linda Gibbs, served on the anti-poverty commission and will help guide its recommendations into policy. She said the reward details ? such as amounts and qualifications ? are still being studied. But she said the city is encouraged by the success of similar programs in other countries, where the benefits endure for years because they create behavior patterns.

New York officials say the cash rewards would not come from government funds. Gibbs said the administration wants to privately raise funds, beginning with about $24 million for programs that reward good behavior in education and health care.

Here’s part of what I wrote in response to Susan (enhanced here with hot links for the Total Blogging Experience):

Several studies pinpoint the problem of poverty in America to bad choices (as opposed to systemic oppression, a caste system, lack of opportunity in America, etc.). Right now most government programs ?incentivize? poor decision-making ? encouraging more children, discouraging marriage, discouraging really finding a job, and so forth. Providing incentives for making positive choices ? those correlated with avoiding poverty ? might be the way to go. And if private individuals fund it, all the better. I?d like to see the ways they plan to make rewards and ensure compliance, since there?s always the incentive to game the system. But I?m not averse to the idea.