Portfolios of the Poor

Discover how the world's poorest people survive on just $2 a day or less. "Portfolios of the Poor" shares the stories of those who must put food on the table, afford a home, educate their children, and handle emergencies and old age. Through year-long interviews with impoverished villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa, the authors reveal how the poor find solutions to everyday financial problems using financial tools, informal networks, and microfinancing. This book offers new methods to fight poverty and ways to envision the next generation of banks for the "bottom billion."