There have been a lot of studies on the relationship between economic inequality and crime rate in the society. According to relative deprivation paradigm, inequality leads to social tension, as poor people feel dispossessed as compared to rich individuals ( Fajnzylber, Lederman & Loayza, 2002) . The feeling of disadvantage and unfairness caused by economic inequality make the poor to engage in crime as way of compensation and satisfaction. Addressing economic inequality is central in fighting crime. Therefore, it is important to come up with the policy known Poor Households Welfare Payment Program ( PHWPP ) that will help in the redistribution of wealth while at the same time reducing crimes.
PHWPP is a policy that is aimed at providing financial support to poor households, especially in urban areas that are characterized by high rate of crime. This policy is based on the perception that poor people and those living in low-class areas have high crime rate because they are not able to meet their basic needs ( Heller, Jacob & Ludwig, 2010) . As a result, the policy will ensure that people living in poor household receives monthly welfare payment based on the number of people in each household and the level of need. The program will not only target households that comprised of parents and children, but also young people who are unemployed and living alone in low-income areas.
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The poor people living in urban areas will not have the feeling of disadvantage and unfairness when they are able to meet their basic needs through the implementation of the policy. Consequently, there will be a reduction in social tension between the rich and the poor living together, leading to a decline in crime rate. PHWPP can help in reducing crime by enabling the poor to meet their basic needs through income redistribution.
References
Fajnzylber, P., Lederman, D., & Loayza, N. (2002). Inequality and violent crime. The Journal of Law and Economics , 45 (1), 1-39.
Heller, S. B., Jacob, B. A., & Ludwig, J. (2010). Family income, neighborhood poverty, and crime. In Controlling Crime: Strategies and Tradeoffs (pp. 419-459). University of Chicago Press.
