Theo Vaes

Our action research inspired by Esther Duflo, Jean Drèze, Humanitas, Hans Rosling, Tine Van Regenmortel, and several others, contributes to social justice and a distributive economy by demonstrating that the benefits of acting and governing in an appropriate manner contribute to the whole of society. In line with the scientific framework provided by Wilkinson and Atkinson, we show the financial and economic benefits of resolving endemic poverty, not only for the benefit of the taxpayer but also for the top 1% and 0,1% of the population.

We focus on 4 interventions to prevent the development of endemic poverty. By strengthening self-esteem and connecting people with networks consisting of people not living in poverty we provide social capital and political voice and extended networks that facilitate an equitable vision of society. Secondly, by demonstrating the importance of purposeful work rather than traditional employment provided by employers, we strengthen the incentives to participate equitably in society through meaningful and sustainable jobs. Thirdly we researched and currently demonstrate the possibility to reverse the unqualified school leaving proportion of children living in deprived families. Lastly, we demonstrate that affordable homes are much more important than just their shelter-providing characteristic. Affordable homes are the key driver for qualified school leaving and activation with subsequent social participation because they broaden the mental bandwidth available.