Firms such as check-cashing companies and payday lenders allow customers who don’t have bank accounts to cash checks, wire money or pay utility bills. While convenient, such services come at a cost. Payday loans typically cost 18% for a two-week term, the equivalent of 468% annually.
Prompted by deepening concerns over poverty and global inequality, the U.N. General Assembly in 2000 adopted the Millennium Development Declaration, putting forward a series of goals which were meant to be achieved by 2015. Core issues included improving global health, including reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Matthew G. Springer of Vanderbilt University’s National Center on Performance Incentives. This piece has been edited for Journalist’s Resource.
Low-level jobs are often seen as a natural first step in a young person’s working life, but limited employment options can have negative long-term consequences for both the individual and society.
