This book addresses one of the main causes of poverty, financial exclusion - the inability to access finance from the high-street banks. People on low or irregular incomes typically have to resort to loan sharks, 'doorstep lenders' and other informal credit sources, a predicament which makes escape from the poverty trap doubly difficult. This book will be vital reading for those concerned with social policy, microfinance and anti-poverty policies in industrialised countries and around the world.

Preface 1. Introduction 2. Scope and Method 3. Financial Performance of CDFIs 4. CDFI Clients: Impacts on Individuals 5. Community-level Impacts 6. Fiscal Impact 7. Where Next? Appendix: Transitions out of Poverty and their Correlates

Pamela Lenton is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Paul Mosley is Professor of Economics at the University of Sheffield, UK.