17 October 2025
The Escape from Poverty: Breaking the Vicious Cycles Perpetuating Disadvantages has won the Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), Book of the Year Award 2024, conferred in partnership with Journal ASAP and the Yale University Global Justice Program.
Authored by Olivier De Schutter, Hugh Frazer, Anne‑Catherine Guio and Eric Marlier, the book examines the vicious cycles that perpetuate poverty across generations and what could be done to eradicate it.
The book exposes the powerful factors obstructing change, including:
• the failure of governments to invest in children by providing sufficient support for households facing poverty; and
• the fallacious tendency to blame poverty on ‘dysfunctional’ families.
It debunks the myths and excuses impeding action, including:
• beliefs concerning ‘merit’ and ‘incentives’;
• the self-interest of and exploitation by those who control excessive wealth and resources; and
• the failure to assess the costs to society of poverty and inequalities (for example, child poverty costs over $1 trillion annually in the US).
With a view to breaking the cycles of poverty, the authors identify key priorities for action including:
• increasing resources to combat poverty;
• strengthening social protection and protecting basic income security;
• ensuring effective access for children to food, housing, childcare, education, leisure, healthcare and other key services; and
• moving from an extractive and exclusive economy to a regenerative and inclusive economy.
The Escape from Poverty is available to read and download here.