Britain finds the most straightforward solution to solving poverty — by giving homeless people money

Politicians, non-government organizations and charities alike have tried to find ways to help homeless people get their lives together. However, many times, some methods work well while others don't. Similarly, a new trial in the UK plans to give cash directly to homeless people to see if it's an effective way to rehabilitate them, per The Guardian. Previously, a lot of campaigners have propagated cash transfers as the most effective way to curb poverty. The study will be conducted by King's College London (KCL) and the Greater Change homelessness charity. It will be funded by the government.

Researchers will involve 360 people from England and Wales and study what difference giving cash can make for them. Half of the group will continue to receive help from frontline charities, while the other half will receive cash from Greater Change for things like rent deposits, white goods, work tools and so on. "What we're trying to understand is the boundary conditions for cash transfers. When does it work? For whom does it work? What are the amounts you need to give people in order to make it work?" Professor Michael Sanders from KCL's experimental government expressed. Previously, such trials have been run in low or middle-income countries and people, as well as politicians, are against it as they feel people will not be careful with the money.

The then-San Francisco supervisor, Gavin Newsom, proposed to cut the cash welfare of 3000 homeless people in 2002 and send it to shelters instead. The campaigners believed that cash payments would be used to fund things like alcohol and drugs, as per The Guardian. However, a study conducted in Vancouver, Canada, proved otherwise. Foundations for Social Change started a New Leaf project and gave people who had been homeless for less than two years a deposit of $5,600. Also, the Foundation gave people workshops and coaching on using the money well; a group received workshops but no training. The study found out that instead of being wasteful, giving cash actually reduced cash spending per person. "Every individual has different needs and cash allows them to be addressed," remarked Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco.

"People tend to be really resourceful and if most of their issues are caused by lack of money, you're fixing it by providing a cash transfer. It gives people the flexibility to address their issues without bureaucratic complications," she added. Greater Change, on the other hand, has helped 1300 people in the UK over the last six years. "On average, every person we help saves around £35,000 ($44,678) [in public spending]," Jonathan Tan, the charity's co-founder, revealed.

Also, among people released from prison, 13% end up homeless, with a chance of re-offending, as per the outlet. Many people re-offend to go back to prison. "We know that of our ex-offending cohort, who are prison leavers, fewer than 9% of them have re-offended 12 months on," Tan pointed out. The study wants to find out if good results have come out because the charities dealt with easier cases. "We don't think it is because they probably send us the more entrenched cases. But we won't know til the randomized control trial finishes."