Income, employment, and income equality are critical components that help individuals and communities improve their well-being. Individuals need access to resources such as cash to purchase goods and services like food, housing, and health care. Governments around the world seek to expand access to income and employment, with many also citing the importance of reducing income inequality. The current global diffusion of cash transfer programs illustrates the central importance of providing a basic income to better enable individuals and families to live their chosen, dignified life. Each of these areas connects directly to citizens’ living standards and capabilities, and to their ability to exercise agency. In this chapter, we focus on the direct, economic aspects of well-being when we discuss poverty; this complements our emphasis on health, education, and gender empowerment in subsequent chapters.