I have to disagree with a previous reviewer: this is a very easy to read book. I was going to say a high school student could read this, but really, with just a few exceptions, a middle school student could follow this, and that's a compliment.
I imagine the first thoughts people in the "First World" have when they hear how many people survive on $2 (or less) per day is how overwhelmingly impossible and desolate that must be. If they get past that, one of the next thoughts might be, "who's paying them that every day?" It's easy to puzzle out that the very poor do not, most likely, get that money on a regular basis, and then the question of how they survive becomes even more unfathomable.
This work goes a long way toward answering that question. After following over 200 families in Bangladesh, India and South Africa, the researchers made a number of surprising conclusions. First, contrary to what we might assume, the very poor do not live hand-to-mouth, immediately consuming all of their very small resources as soon as they arrive. They are able to pay for participation in festivals, weddings, funerals, emergencies and education, just to name a few. Second, and most importantly, the poor are able to do this through a variety of financial instruments- formal, semiformal and informal- that show a level of sophistication that most wouldn't expect.
However, as one can easily imagine, both the small total amount of income and the irregularity with which it arrives creates stressful situations when those sums have to be raised. In many cases, they are raised, but most have to make more use of loans than savings. While many of those loans are even interest-free, the financial and social anxiety they create have costs of their own, which many are eager to avoid.
The authors frequently refer to the "Triple Whammy" that affects their subjects: not only are their incomes small and infrequent, but the majority of the very poor lack access to reliable, flexible financial tools that allow them to save their small funds over a long-period of time. They also lack access to reliable loans. While some might argue against the credit-worthiness of such individuals, the argument that these financial diaries make is that the majority of them have already demonstrated a capacity to make small, frequent payments; they are worthy lending risks, but flexible arrangements must be allowed.
This is not to say that there are no tools. There are an impressive variety of savings clubs, savings schemes and credit instruments. But many are fraught with risk; for example, the treasurer of one savings club in South Africa was murdered while she was transporting half of the funds to the bank.
The authors spent some time debunking some myths about money lenders, particularly the high interest rates. In essence, their argument is that the high rates quoted at the beginning of the transaction is intended to be both a deterrent and insurance, as many such loans are difficult to fully recover. However, the authors quoted a few anecdotes where the interest was renegotiated or forgiven once at least a partial payment record had been established.
It was clear to both the authors and the readers that health costs, whether in the form of a sudden event or a long-expected death, was a huge strain on their subjects, both in terms of lost income potential and the cost of treatment. Clearly, this issue needs to be addressed.
Microfinancing as pioneered by the Grameen Bank was discussed through much of the book, even getting its own chapter toward the end. Access to a better, more reliable saving and lending instrument did not always improve the financial position of their subjects, particularly in Bangladesh. The relative inflexibility of the loan payments and loan objectives (funding a microenterprise) made it less than ideal for most of them. However, the revised "Grameen II" objectives added not only more flexibility but also a mandated savings account. Those who enrolled in the program began enjoying more financial flexibility. However, Microfinance is still not a perfect solution, as it is still linked to business and not households. The authors were optimistic that this would change.
I found this book to be informative about a subject that has been, frankly, bothering me for some time. However, I was surprised that it wasn't until the end of the book that we got any information about the authors. Now knowing that one of the authors founded a microfinance organization of his own, I am even more skeptical about the frequent mention of that category of business in this work. Stating that upfront would have made the work more transparent.
Still, this is a groundbreaking work, and the methodology used can easily be replicated to further the work in this important subject.
