A new hope
To all my readers who are interested in how my project is going- everything is progressing smoothly. My task became especially simple after I discovered an article that is directly related to the topic I am currently researching. I was so overjoyed with my discovery that I decided to share it with all of you!
Today, we will be examining an article entitled “Shoeing the Children: The Impact of the TOMS Shoe Donation Program in Rural El Salvador”. As can be inferred from the title, the authors (Bruce Wydick, Elizabeth Katz, Flor Calvo, Felipe Gutierrez, and Brendan Janet) think that charity in the form of “in-kind” donations tends to have a negative effect on the populace it is trying to help. Using cluster-randomized trials on the data obtained from questioning 1,578 children from 979 households in rural El Salvador, the researchers tested the impacts of TOMS “one-for-one” donations on children’s time allocation, school attendance, health, self-esteem, and aid dependency. They obtained the following results: Lower-middle income countries such as El Salvador, where clothes and shoes are relatively widespread, are unlikely to be ideal targets for in-kind gifts, and those that do receive them tend to exhibit negative psychological side-effects in the form of a heightened sense of dependency.
Clearly, this new is quite troubling, and needs to reach the ears of Tom’s shoes executives. As someone who grew up in an environment where you had to earn everything by yourself, I am all the more against actions that turn people into parasites. Based on the data used by the researchers, practically all of the test subjects already had a pair of shoes to begin with- therefore, assuming Tom’s shoes is truly focused on helping people from these countries, they should give them opportunities to grow, and not simply shower them with gifts. In the article, the authors actually suggest a somewhat decent remedy for this situation: instead of simply handing their products out, Tom’s shoes should make them rewards for academic and sport achievements. I believe, such a solution would result in a favorable outcome for all parties concerned.
Wydick, Bruce and Katz, Elizabeth and Calvo, Flor and Gutierrez, Felipe and Janet, Brendan, Shoeing the Children: The Impact of the Toms Shoe Donation Program in Rural El Salvador (September 14, 2016). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7822.