Bill Gates pumps $158 million into push to combat US poverty

SEATTLE (AP):

Bill Gates launched a new fight against systemic poverty in the United States with his private foundation yesterday, announcing millions of dollars towards initiatives ranging from data projects to funding for community activists.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said it will spend US$158 million combating American poverty over the next four years. It comes as the foundation moves deeper into US issues after largely focusing on global health and development. Critics have long challenged Gates to do more to help the poor at home in the US.

Specific programs and grants to combat poverty have not been identified, but the foundation's work will be informed by the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty, an ideas-oriented task force.

The Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic organisation, funded the task force to kick-start its entry into American poverty issues. The partnership is housed within the Urban Institute, a Washington, DC-based liberal-leaning think tank, and said it has worked to create ideas over the past two years that philanthropic groups, businesses and government could carry into action.

Members of the task force have issued proposals as broad as 'confronting racism' in neighbourhood planning and as specific as urging an expansion of the child tax credit and eligibility for housing assistance vouchers to help families with children under six.

In addressing the income gap, they advocate for better jobs and more workers' rights through wage subsidies, community college access and a gig-economy benefits system, among other concepts.

How the Microsoft co-founder's money will make it all happen is unclear, but the foundation is expected to fund pilot projects and research that will help support such ideas.