Can the cause and result be (at least partly) reverse? That is, poor people is poor not because of their poor decisions, but being poor let them make poor decisions. Or maybe it's a feedback cycle. I don't have first-hand experience, though; just an impression from a book[1].

If being poor is a part of a cause, then guaranteed safety net may break the malicious cycle. But yeah, just blindly betting it seems too naive. That's why we need social experiments, right?

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Mouth-Living-Bootstrap-America/dp...