Investments In Social Services Research Articles

National Burden of Injury and Deaths From Shootings by Police in the United States, 2015‒2020.

Objectives. To describe all-outcome injurious shootings by police and compare characteristics of fatal versus nonfatal injurious shootings nationally. Methods. From July 2021 to April 2023, we manually reviewed publicly available records on all 2015-2020 injurious shootings by US police, identified from Gun Violence Archive. We estimated injury frequency, case fatality rates, and relative odds of death by incident and victim characteristics. Results. A total of 1769 people were injured annually in shootings by police, 55% fatally. When a shooting injury occurred, odds of fatality were 46% higher following dispatched responses than police-initiated responses. Injuries associated with physically threatening or threat-making behaviors, behavioral health needs, and well-being checks were most frequently fatal. Relative to White victims, Black victims were overrepresented but had 35% lower odds of fatal injury when shot. Conclusions. This first multiyear, nationwide analysis of injurious shootings by US police suggests that injury disparities are underestimated by fatal shootings alone. Nonpolicing responses to social needs may prevent future injuries. Public Health Implications. We call for enhanced reporting systems, comprehensive evaluation of emerging reforms, and targeted investment in social services for equitable injury prevention. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(4):387-397. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307560).

Public Investment in Social Services and Income Inequality in Nigeria

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by investigating the dynamic effects of public social services investment on income inequality in Nigeria. The motivation for this study is the controversy surrounding the effectiveness of public spending on social services in promoting economic development in developing economies. Thus, this study followed an ex-post factor research design by obtaining annual time series data from the CBN Statistical Bulletin and the National Bureau of Statistics, which were analysed with the application of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. Evidence of mixed integration was established from the unit root test results. The series was also found to be co-integrated at the significance level of 5 percent. It was established from the findings that public spending on social services significantly reduced income inequality in the long run. This finding explains the effectiveness of social services spending in income redistribution in the long term. The results also showed that public expenditure on economic services reduced income inequality in the short run. However, total public expenditure, as a percentage of the GDP, has a negative but insignificant effect on income inequality in the long run. This finding casts doubt on the effectiveness of total public expenditure in addressing the problem of income inequality in Nigeria. Given the findings, this paper recommends that policymakers should provide a sustainable path for increased public investments in social services to the required vehicle for equitable income distribution in Nigeria.

Effect of Disaggregated Government Expenditures on Human Development in Nigeria

This study empirically investigated the effect of government expenditure on human development in Nigeria from 1981 to 2019. Government expenditure is proxied with government capital and recurrent expenditure on health, government capital and recurrent expenditure on education and government capital and recurrent expenditure on other social and community services while human development is proxied with human development index. The study employed ex-post facto research design and secondary data were utilized. The Secondary data were obtained from Central Bank Statistical bulletin and United Nations development programme report of various years. The study tested for stationarity, and it was found that the variables are stationary at mixed order. Based on this, the study adopted Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model as the estimation technique. The study found that government capital and recurrent expenditure on health has weak and insignificant effect on human development. The study also revealed that government capital and recurrent expenditure on education has significant positive effect on human development in Nigeria. The study likewise revealed that government capital and recurrent expenditure on other social and community services has significant positive effect on human development in Nigeria. The study concluded that government expenditure through investment in education and other social and community services influence human capital development in Nigeria positively. Thus, the study recommended amongst others that the Nigeria government should increase funding of the education sector to meet education, scientific and cultural organization minimum requirement. Government should invest more on other social and community services.

A cross-country analysis of sustainability, transport and energy poverty

Poverty impacts people’s choices and opportunities and can perpetuate a disadvantaged status. Poverty remains a prevalent global issue due to disproportionate wealth distribution, which often translates to inequality in energy consumption and emissions. This research investigates if low-income households and minorities from four countries with very different national cultures, contexts, and levels of wealth experience a ‘double energy vulnerability’, a concept that simultaneously positions people at heightened risk of transport and energy poverty. Our research identifies that low-income households and minorities are at higher risk of simultaneously experiencing energy and transport poverty regardless of the national context in which they live. Our study also contests the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, showing that even in relatively wealthy countries, many individuals still face energy and transport poverty. We conclude that global sustainable development requires significant shifts in policy action, resource distribution and investment in social services.

Study of the state of health in the conditions of constant numerous transitional and intermediate stages

Aims: To explore the impact of transitional and intermediate stages on physical, mental, and social health. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used. There was no analysis carried whatsoever. Results: Life changes such as marriage, divorce, and retirement affect physical health in different ways, influenced by factors such as marital satisfaction and stress management. Divorce can cause emotional distress, and access to healthcare is critical to managing stress. Retirement can reduce stress but can lead to health risks if it leads to social isolation. Mental health is affected at all stages of life, from academic stress in early adulthood to mid-life crises in middle age and existential rumination in later life. Social determinants of health, such as education, marriage decisions, and career change, are influenced by socioeconomic status, income, and access to health care. Aging people are more affected by income, health care, and support systems. Global events can disrupt access to employment and healthcare, emphasising the interplay of social determinants and life changes. In 2023, the world's population reaches 8.045 billion, of which 25% are aged 0-14 years, 65% are aged 15-64 years and 10% are aged 65+. This age distribution presents challenges and opportunities, requiring investment in education, health and social services for young people, support for the working-age population, and specialised care and resources for older people. Scientific Novelty: Exploring the dynamics of health within a continuum of numerous transitional and intermediate stages unveils a groundbreaking scientific frontier. Conclusion: Life transitions impact health, necessitating informed choices and support. Mental health education is vital for coping. Social determinants matter, as do diverse age demographics, requiring tailored policies for well-being.

Public Investment and Economic Development in Nigeria

This paper investigated the impact of public sector investment on economic development in Nigeria over the time period 1981-2021. In order to examined how public investment on economic services, social and community services and administrative services had affected economic development measured in terms of: standard of living, literacy rate and job creation, data were collected from CBN Statistical Bulletin and World Development Indicators for the period and analysed using the ARDL. This was done after carrying out descriptive analyses and testing for unit roots properties of the variables under investigation. The result shows that public investment in economic and administrative services improved living standard while public investment in social and community services retarded living standard in Nigeria both in the short and long run. Public investments in economic and administrative services were also friendly with literacy level in the long run while public investment in economic and social services spurred employment in the long run. Public investment in administrative services was found to be friendly with literacy rate in the short run. A long-run relationship existed amongst variables under investigation in Nigeria over the period of this study. The mix effects of public investment on economic development in Nigeria could be attributed to misapplication and misappropriation of public funds. From the findings of this study, the study concluded that: public investment in economic and administrative spurred economic development than public investment in social and community services over the period of this study. Based on these findings and conclusion, the study recommended: an improvement in investment/public spending on economic and administrative services in order to create more jobs, improve income level (standard of living) and improve human capital development in Nigeria.

지방정부 지속가능발전 정책의 동태적 효과 분석: 세종시를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of the regional government’s sustainable development policies in Sejong City from the perspective of urban dynamics. Scenario analysis was conducted focusing on the main issues of sustainable development in Sejong City. As a result of analyzing changes in urban dynamics by applying different levels of investment in industry, social services, and SOC, it was found that the larger the investment size, the higher the attractiveness of the region in all scenarios. In particular, since SOC investment is closely related to the relocation of the National Assembly, which is a major issue in Sejong City, it is necessary to prioritize investment expansion. Despite several limitations, the results of this study are expected to contribute to the establishment of policy directions for sustainable development in Sejong City and the prioritization of policy implementation.

Quality of life of Brazilian families who have children with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome: An exploratory cross-sectional study.

This exploratory cross-sectional study aimed to examine the family quality of life (FQoL) among 51 Brazilian families who have children with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Data were collected using sociodemographic and clinical data forms, as well as the Beach Center FQoL Scale, a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "very dissatisfied" (1) to "very satisfied" (5). The average score of the overall FQoL was 3.93 ± 0.64. Families' scores were higher for family interaction (4.17 ± 0.76), parenting (4.13 ± 0.61), and disability-related support (4.08 ± 0.76) domains, and lower for the family's emotional well-being (3.31 ± 0.96) and physical/material well-being (3.76 ± 0.82) domains. Family income, attendance at religious services, presence of ocular abnormalities, and aggressive behavior explained 46.2% of the variance in the overall FQoL. In summary, FQoL seems to be anchored in aspects such as family interaction and the care of parents, and be negatively affected by emotional issues, physical, and material limitations. In this context, psychological assistance should be provided to both parents and siblings whenever indicated, for improving emotional well-being and increasing family resilience. Additionally, investments in social policies, services, and human and material resources are needed to improve the physical and material conditions of families, promote better health care, and therefore reduce the family burden.

Discharging to the Street: When Patients Refuse Medically Safer Options

The ethical obligation to provide a reasonably safe discharge option from the inpatient setting is often confounded by the context of homelessness. Living without the security of stable housing is a known determinant of poor health, often complicating the safety of discharge and causing unnecessary readmission. But clinicians do not have significant control over unjust distributions of resources or inadequate societal investment in social services. While physicians may stretch inpatient stays beyond acute care need in the interest of their patients who are experiencing homelessness, they must also consider the implications of using an inpatient hospital bed for someone without the attendant level of medical need. Caring for patients in an inpatient setting when they no longer require acute care means fewer beds for acute care patients. And when a patient who is experiencing homelessness declines a medically safer option such as a skilled nursing facility, then clinicians may be faced with the sole option of discharge to the street, which raises troubling questions of nonmaleficence and social justice. Here we investigate the different forms of injustice that play out when patients are discharged to the street, and offer a map of the interwoven ethical responsibilities of clinicians, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities.

Religious innovations of chieftaincy in Ghana: Pentecostal Christianity and the complex persistence and transformation of Akan chieftaincy

AbstractChieftaincy is an important indigenous political system in West Africa. In Ghana–based on ancestral cult–the institution has gone through and survived the major historical epochs–precolonial, colonial, and post‐independence–albeit with some changes. The institution's flexibility has been a singular source of its survival. This has made it possible for Pentecostals to become indigenous chiefs. In this article, I depend on a year's ethnographic research in Ghana in 2019 and a review of literature on chieftaincy in Africa to explore how Pentecostal chiefs negotiate the complex terrain between indigenous religion and Pentecostal Christianity–as they take up chiefly office. I argue that through creative innovation and investment in social services, Pentecostal chiefs subvert chiefly rituals and also legitimize their authority. In all this, I discuss the flexibility embodied in chieftaincy and Pentecostalism.

Circumstances and toxicology of violence-related deaths among young people who have\xa0had contact with the youth justice system: a data linkage study

BackgroundYoung people who have had contact with the youth justice system have an increased risk of dying from violence. Examining the context of violence-related deaths is essential in informing prevention strategies. We examined the circumstances and toxicology of violence-related deaths among young people who have had contact with the youth justice system in Queensland, Australia.MethodsThis data linkage study linked youth justice records from Queensland, Australia (30 June 1993-1 July 2014) on 48,670 young people to national death and coroner records (1 July 2000-1 January 2017). Circumstances and toxicology of deaths were coded from coroner’s records. We calculated the incidence of violence-related deaths that were reported to a coroner. Fisher’s exact tests were used to examine crude differences in the circumstances and toxicology of violence-related death, according to sex and Indigenous status.ResultsThere were 982 deaths reported to a coroner in the cohort. Of which, 36 (4%) were from violence-related causes (incidence: 6 per 100,000 person-years, 95% confidence interval: 4-8). People who died from violence were most frequently male (n = 28/36; 78%), and almost half were Indigenous (n = 16/36; 44%). The majority of violence-related deaths involved a weapon (n = 24/36; 67%), most commonly a knife (n = 17/36; 47%). Compared to men where the violent incident was most frequently preceded by an altercation (n = 12/28; 43%), for women it was frequently preceded by a relationship breakdown or argument (n < 5; p = 0.004). Substances most commonly present in toxicology reports were cannabis (n = 16/23; 70%) and alcohol (n = 15/23; 65%).ConclusionsTherapeutic alcohol and other drug programs, both in the community and detention, are likely important for reducing violence-related deaths among young people who have had contact with the youth justice system. The majority of violence-related deaths among women were in the context of intimate partner violence, indicating the urgent need for interventions that prevent intimate partner violence in this population. Diversion programs and increased investment in health and social services may reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the youth justice system and in violence-related deaths.

Frontiers of Extraction and Contestation: dispossession, exclusion and local resistance against MIDROC Laga-Dambi Gold Mine, southern Ethiopia

Resource frontiers in Ethiopia have served as spaces of state power consolidation and wealth accumulation and as manifestations of asymmetrical power relations between state and society. Successive Ethiopian regimes pursued high-modernist development models under broader narratives of civilizing ‘backward’ societies and ‘transforming’ ‘unproductive’ spaces into productive resources. Although much of state intervention in the pastoralist frontiers was effected through large-scale commercial farming, extractive industries have become another dimension of frontier expansion. Ethiopia's liberalization of its mining economy in the 1990s has attracted private investors to the politically marginalized peripheries in the country. Accordingly, MIDROC Laga-Dambi Gold Mine, the largest private gold-producing company in the country, was in 1997 granted a 20-year lease over 485 km2 of land in Guji zone, Oromia National Regional State. The company soon developed an exclusionary approach in its relations with local communities with little investment in social services, local employment and environmental sustainability. On the contrary, its strong link to the macro-political order and reliance on coercive power in subduing local resistance enabled it to create an enclave where it operated without accountability for two decades. This paper analyzes the interplay between the macro-political order and local practices and power constellations at the mining site, and how such interplay reconfigured state-society relations, leading to conflict and eventual suspension of the mining company's license in May 2018. The paper argues that the company's exclusionary approach was rooted within the political formation of the Ethiopian state that considers such territories as resource frontiers (full of resources but empty of people). The paper asks how questions of entitlement at the local level, mining micro politics, and the national political order are entangled and produce different forms of contestation and negotiation. It concludes that this entanglement shapes how mining companies operate and also how states formulate mining policies.

Perceptions of Diseases of Despair by Members of Rural and Urban High-Prevalence Communities

<h3>Importance</h3> Diseases of despair (ie, mortality or morbidity from suicidality, drug abuse, and alcoholism) were first characterized as increasing in rural White working-class populations in midlife with low educational attainment and associated with long-term economic decline. Excess mortality now appears to be associated with working-class citizens across demographic and geographic boundaries, but no known qualitative studies have engaged residents of rural and urban locales with high prevalence of diseases of despair to learn their perspectives. <h3>Objective</h3> To explore perceptions about despair-related illness and potential intervention strategies among diverse community members residing in discrete rural and urban hotspots. <h3>Design, Setting, and Participants</h3> In this qualitative study, high-prevalence hotspots for diseases of despair were identified from health insurance claims data in Central Pennsylvania. Four focus groups were conducted with 60 community members in organizations and coalitions from 3 census block group hotspot clusters in the health system between September 2019 and January 2020. Focus groups explored awareness and beliefs about causation and potential intervention strategies. <h3>Main Outcomes and Measures</h3> A descriptive phenomenological approach was applied to thematic analysis, and a preliminary conceptual model was constructed to describe how various factors may be associated with perpetuating despair and with public health. <h3>Results</h3> In total, 60 adult community members participated in 4 focus groups (44 women, 16 men; 40 White non-Hispanic, 17 Black, and 3 Hispanic/Latino members). Three focus groups with 43 members were held in rural areas with high prevalence of diseases of despair, and 1 focus group with 17 members in a high-prevalence urban area. Four themes emerged with respect to awareness and believed causation of despair-related illness, and participants identified common associated factors, including financial distress, lack of critical infrastructure and social services, deteriorating sense of community, and family fragmentation. Intervention strategies focused around 2 themes: (1) building resilience to despair through better community and organizational coordination and peer support at the local level and (2) encouraging broader state investments in social services and infrastructure to mitigate despair-related illness. <h3>Conclusions and Relevance</h3> In this qualitative study, rural and urban community members identified common factors associated with diseases of despair, highlighting the association between long-term political and economic decline and public health and a need for both community- and state-level solutions to address despair. Health care systems participating in addressing community health needs may improve processes to screen for despair (eg, social history taking) and codesign primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions aimed at addressing factors associated with distress. Such actions have taken on greater urgency with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association between county jail incarceration and cause-specific county mortality in the USA, 1987–2017: a retrospective, longitudinal study

BackgroundMass incarceration has collateral consequences for community health, which are reflected in county-level health indicators, including county mortality rates. County jail incarceration rates are associated with all-cause mortality rates in the USA. We assessed the causes of death that drive the relationship between county-level jail incarceration and mortality.MethodsIn this retrospective, longitudinal study, we assessed the association between county-level jail incarceration rates and county-level cause-specific mortality using county jail incarceration data (1987–2017) for 1094 counties in the USA obtained from the Vera Institute of Justice and cause-specific mortality data for individuals younger than 75 years in the total county population (1988–2018) obtained from the US National Vital Statistics System. We fitted quasi-Poisson models for nine common causes of death (cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes, heart disease, infectious disease, malignant neoplasm, substance use, suicide, and unintentional injury) with county fixed effects, controlling for all unmeasured stable county characteristics and measured time-varying confounders (county median age, county poverty rate, county percentage of Black residents, county crime rate, county unemployment rate, and state incarceration rate). We lagged county jail incarceration rates by 1 year to assess the short-term, by 5 years to assess the medium-term, and by 10 years to assess the long-term associations of jail incarceration with premature mortality.FindingsA 1 per 1000 within-county increase in jail incarceration rate was associated with a 6·5% increase in mortality from infectious diseases (risk ratio 1·065, 95% CI 1·061–1·070), a 4·9% increase in mortality from chronic lower respiratory disease (1·049, 1·045–1·052), a 2·6% increase in mortality induced from substance use (1·026, 1·020–1·032), a 2·5% increase in suicide mortality (1·025, 1·020–1·029), and smaller increases in mortality from heart disease (1·021, 1·019–1·023), unintentional injury (1·015, 1·011–1·018), malignant neoplasm (1·014, 1·013–1·016), diabetes (1·013, 1·009–1·018), and cerebrovascular disease (1·010, 1·007–1·013) after 1 year. Associations between jail incarceration and cause-specific mortality rates weakened as time lags increased, but to a greater extent for causes of death with generally shorter latency periods (infectious disease and suicide) than for those with generally longer latency periods (heart disease, malignant neoplasm, and cerebrovascular disease).InterpretationJail incarceration rates are potential drivers of many causes of death in US counties. Jail incarceration can be harmful not only to the health of individuals who are incarcerated, but also to public health more broadly. Our findings suggest important points of intervention, including disinvestment from carceral systems and investment in social and public health services, such as community-based treatment of substance-use disorders.

The Performance of Change Through the G.I. Bill

The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 represented unprecedented investment in social services which uplifted veterans into the middle class. As observers hail the G.I. Bill for its provisions for supposed deserving Americans, popular memories of the G.I. Bill emphasize its imagination of modern veterans’ support and race-neutral policy, while ignoring its shortcomings. The G.I. Bill presents a departure from the New Deal and ushers in a conservative era of creating social programs, while still maintaining the status quo.

Unrecognized assets created by public-sector investments in health and social services

PurposeThis paper analyzes two types of potential intangible public-sector assets for consideration by public-sector accounting boards. Government investments in health and social programs can create two potential intangible assets: the intangible infrastructure used to deliver the health or social program and the enhanced human capital embodied in the recipients of program services. Because neither of these assets is currently recognized in a government's year-end financial statements or broader general-purpose financial reports (GPFR), these reports may underrepresent the government's true fiscal and service capacity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses an international accounting standards framework to analyze: whether investments in health and social programs create intangible assets that meet the definition of an asset as set out by International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), whether they are assets of the government and whether they are recognizable for the purpose of financial reporting.FindingsThe intangible infrastructure asset created to facilitate the delivery of health and social programs would often qualify as a recognizable asset of the government. However, the enhanced recipient human capital asset created through the delivery of health and social programs would, in most instances, not qualify as a recognizable asset of the government, though there likely would be benefits from reporting on it through GPFRs or other mechanisms.Originality/valueThis paper makes two contributions. First, it identifies a previously overlooked intangible asset – the infrastructure created to facilitate the delivery of health and social programs. Second, it presents an argument regarding why, even when it fails to generate a recognizable intangible asset to government, it would be valuable for government to report such investments in supplementary statements.

The Elusive Search for Rights-Centred Public Health Approaches to Drug Policy: A Comment

While it is common for United Nations member states in international meetings to espouse ‘public health approaches’ to drug policy, actual policies appear not to have caught up with this rhetoric. There is a lingering over-emphasis in narcotic drug policies on policing and incarceration at the expense of urgently needed investment in health and social services for people who use drugs. These policies have lethal consequences in the transmission of potentially fatal infections and preventable overdose deaths, and they impede progress in social and economic development. The experience of a number of countries, mostly in the European Union, highlights that bringing public health evidence into the center of drug policy decision-making can have broad social, economic and public health benefits.

The Relationship Between Health Spending And Social Spending In High-Income Countries: How Does The US Compare?

There is broad consensus that the US spends too much on health care. One proposed driver of the high US spending is low investment in social services. We examined the relationship between health spending and social spending across high-income countries. We found that US social spending (at 16.1percent of gross domestic product [GDP] in 2015) is slightly below the average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (17.0percent of GDP) and above that average when education spending is included (US: 19.7percent of GDP; OECD: 17.7percent of GDP). We found that countries that spent more on social services tended to spend more on health care. Adjusting for poverty and unemployment rates and the proportion of people older than age sixty-five did not meaningfully change these associations. In addition, when we examined changes over time, we found additional evidence for a positive relationship between social and health spending: Countries with the greatest increases in social spending also had larger increases in health care spending.

The Importance of Health and Social Services Spending to Health Outcomes in Texas, 2010-2016.

Public health and social services spending have been shown to improve health outcomes at the county level, although there are significant state and regional variations in such spending. Texas offers an important opportunity for examining nuances in the patterns of association between local government health and social services spending and population health outcomes. The primary objectives of this study were to describe local investments in education, health, and social services at the county-area level for all of Texas from 2002 through 2012 and to examine how changes in local investment over time were associated with changes in health outcomes. We used two large secondary data sources for this study. First, US Census Bureau data were used to measure annual spending by all local governments on public hospitals, community health care and public health, and >1 dozen social services. Second, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps data measured county health outcomes. We performed regression models to examine the association between increases in local government spending and a county's health outcomes ranking 4 years later. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models accounted for mean spending in each category, county health factors ranking, and county and state random effects. Local governments in Texas spent an average of $4717 per capita across all health and social services. Although spending was relatively consistent across 2002-2012, there was notable variation in spending across counties and services. Regression models found that changes in four spending categories were associated with significant improvements in health outcomes: fire and ambulance, community health care and public health, housing and community development, and libraries. For each, an additional one-time investment of $15 per capita was associated with a 1-spot improvement in statewide county health rankings within 4 years. Existing evidence regarding the association between social services spending and health outcomes may not yield sufficiently granular data for policy makers within a single state. Investments in certain social services in Texas were associated with improvements in health outcomes, as measured by improvements in the County Health Rankings, in the years subsequent to spending increases. Similar analyses in other states and regions may yield actionable avenues for policy makers to improve population health.

Impact of Economic Planning on Sustainable Development in Nigeria

This paper examined the impact of economic planning on sustainable development in Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: examine the impact of planned investments on economic, community and social services on poverty reduction and income inequality. The Fully Modified Least Squares and Granger causality tests were applied in analyzing the data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank. The cointegrating regression results show that planned investments in economic services exert significant positive impact on poverty rate and Gini index. On the contrary, planned investment on community and social services has significant negative impact on poverty rate and Gini index. 1 percent increase in investments in community and social services reduces poverty rate by 0.815 percent and 0.429 percent of income inequality. It therefore follows from the result that investments in community and social services play a key role in achieving sustainable development goals by mitigating the incidences of poverty and inequality. The Granger causality test results show that unidirectional causality runs from planned investment on economic services to both poverty rate and income inequality. Similarly, unidirectional causality flows from planned investment on community and social services to income inequality. The results further revealed that joint causality flows from the explanatory variables to poverty rate and inequality. This finding indicates that the underlying measures of economic planning are jointly important in predicting changes in sustainable development in Nigeria. Accordingly, the study recommends that policy makers should prioritize investment in education, health and other aspects of community and social services in to engender sustainable development.