Crime and Poverty — we explore the complexities of the often-overlooked roles that financial or economic literacy, and community expectations play in misguided financial decisions and crimes.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 23: In this photo illustration, indictment papers are seen during a press conference on October 23, 2025, in New York City. FBI Director Patel was joined by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the NY Field Office of the FBI Christopher Raia, Special Agent in Charge of the NY Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations Ricky Patel, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and various members of law enforcement as they announced indictments against current and former N.B.A. players, that include Chauncey Billups coach of the Portland Trailblazers and hall of fame inductee, Terry Rozier, a guard for the Miami Heat, in a pair of criminal cases that involved the coordination of Mafia families and professional athletes. (Photo illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Maliya Simone, CRDN
October 27, 2025
The long-standing argument that poverty plays a significant role in criminal activity has long led to other relevant factors being overlooked, notably one’s lack of “literacy” and the respective community etiquette. To be clear, in the context of crime and its effect on inner city communities, particularly more historically disadvantaged communities, the terms “literacy,” and “community etiquette,” are broadly speaking. For decades, particularly through the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, this correlation between poverty and crime has long been widely accepted as valid reasons underscoring criminal activity. In fact, that correlation is so widely accepted that even the federal government requires many prospective employees to pass a credit background check, designed to weed-out applicants deemed fiscally irresponsible or at an elevated risk for the commission of financial crimes. It was much easier to understand this correlation during the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, without reference to any other possibly relevant factors since it was also a period during which states’ minimum wages generally tracked federal minimum wage, and unemployment in many historically disadvantaged communities remained severely elevated. The argument that one could make more in a day’s time than working an entire week at a lawful job remained a virtually irrefutable argument against those arguing that there was no correlation between poverty and crime.
However, over the past decade, something unusual occurred. The minimum wages in a number of states began to substantially depart from their tracking of the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 today, unchanged since July 24, 2009. In states like New York and California, states’ minimum wages departed substantially from the federal minimum wage, in some instances more than doubling the federal minimum wage. During the same time period, employment opportunities increased significantly for many, including historically disadvantaged communities. Nonetheless, crime, in many of those communities, continues to remain problematic; even if one could make in a day’s work on a lawful job, than they could in a full week of crime commission.
It is true that there is a correlation between poverty and crime. However, there have always been flags that there may be more valid reasons why one may have committed a crime. The historical record itself provides a dramatic illustration that the connection between poverty and crime is not a simple inverse relationship. In the 1950s and early 1960s, when poverty was more widespread and racial discrimination much more overt, the US violent crime index was at a relative low, with the rate in 1960 being 160.9 per 100,000 population. However, from 1965 to 1991, crime began a sharp, sustained rise despite official poverty rates declining. The violent crime rate nearly quadrupled during this period, peaking at 758.2 per 100,000 population in 1991.
This highlights that a range of social instability factors may be more crucial drivers of crime than just economic lack; and are greater factors than we previously understood.
The dynamics of high wages and job loss are most acutely felt in economically disadvantaged urban areas characterized as the “inner-city.” For residents in these communities who successfully retain their positions, the higher minimum wage directly increases the financial incentive for legal work, often raising the social and mental cost of engaging in criminal behavior. This is particularly effective at reducing recidivism, as a better legal wage makes rejoining the workforce a more viable economic alternative for formerly incarcerated individuals. However, the arrest of the former NBA player, an NBA coach, and current NBA player, by all accounts, millionaires, and not financially distressed, requires greater consideration of those additional factors driving the commission of crimes at times where job opportunities and wages are at an all-time high. The fallout has been far reaching, with even the U.S. Congress demanding answers from the NBA.
Over the years, state minimum wages, such as those in New York and California, have doubled— and more than doubled the federal rate. At the same time, unemployment rates in many historically disadvantaged communities have plummeted; yet, particularly since 2018 forward, these substantial economic dynamics have appeared to have had no impact on crime levels.
While some research suggests that minimum wage increases are associated with a slight increase in property crime arrests among 16-to-24-year-olds, an effect that many claim is driven by adverse labor-demand effects, other studies indicate that for populations with a high likelihood of having a criminal record, a minimum wage increase can reduce the probability of reincarceration.
While everyone can agree that poverty can indeed play a significant role in crime, the studies suggest that other factors are critically overlooked, such as lack of economic literacy, and an absence of community standards.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) community offers a case study in mitigation. The league is credited with recognizing that illiteracy in any degree on any matter can get the best of good people and has implemented extensive financial literacy programs for new players, connecting them with access to some of the best money managers available.
The NBA community has a history of expecting a higher degree of etiquette among its players. Statistically, however, through the years, a false sense of security may have developed in the NBA Community, allowing the community to overlook that available data from the 2010s suggested that NBA players had a higher arrest rate than players in the NFL or MLB, with the NBA rate being higher than the general US male population.
Still, the general absence of high-profile, non-drug-related arrests for serious violent crimes by active NBA players for decades often drew attention to the league’s success in managing its athletes’ public conduct.
This evidence suggests that various forms of literacy programs and character expectations play vital roles in combatting illiteracy, especially financial illiteracy. This coupling of literacy and community standards likely explains why, when poverty was at its peak in the US for many minority communities before the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, the levels of crimes were, by contrast, at all-time lows.
The recent alleged involvement of NBA figures in a federal gambling ring demonstrates the limits of wealth alone, as the individuals involved are multi-millionaires.
Coach and former player Chauncey Billups earned approximately $107 million in his career and has an estimated net worth of $35 million. Current player Terry Rozier has made approximately $160 million in his career and currently earns nearly $25 million annually. Former player Damon Jones also retired having earned millions, including a four-year, $4 million per year contract.
Whatever reasons that may be provided, we can all agree that poverty had nothing to do with their involvement in the alleged illegal gambling scheme. Their actions reinforce the fact that money is insufficient if a lack of knowledge is at the forefront (e.g., regarding the integrity of the game or the law), especially in the face of a lack of adherence to community standards. Since these events could damage not just their economic opportunities, but also economic opportunities of current and former players of the NBA, as well as the NBA itself, culminating in the NBA community likely placing a renewed emphasis on its community expectations.