Poverty & social protection
Cash transfers, safety nets and livelihoods. Real interventions, each with its sources: what worked, what didn't, and why.
9 worked2 mixed0 didn't work
What worked
- WorkedPoverty & social protection
Progresa: conditional cash transfers for school and health
ChallengeRural children left school early to work, and poor families rarely used preventive health care.
Cash for poor rural mothers, conditional on school attendance and clinic visits.
+0.66 yrsprojected additional schooling per childRCTRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Unconditional cash transfers via mobile money
ChallengeAid programs were costly to run and rarely let poor families choose what they needed most.
Large one-off cash transfers by mobile phone, no strings attached.
+$302 PPPrise in recipient households' asset holdings vs control ($495 PPP mean)RCTRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
The Graduation approach for the ultra-poor
ChallengeThe very poorest households were missed by both microfinance and safety nets.
An asset, a stipend, coaching and savings, tested in six countries.
5 of 6countries saw lasting gains in consumption and assetsRCTRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Kudumbashree: women's neighborhood groups in Kerala
ChallengeAnti-poverty programs were top-down and women had little access to credit or a voice locally.
Millions of women in groups that save, lend, run businesses and plan local spending.
4,808,837women in neighborhood groups (March 2025)ObservationalRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Bolsa Família: Brazil's family cash transfer
ChallengeExtreme poverty and inequality were high, and existing benefits were fragmented.
Monthly cash for poor families, tied to school attendance and health check-ups.
Nearly 14Mhouseholds reached in 2013, around a quarter of BraziliansQuasi-experimentalRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Stockton's guaranteed income pilot (SEED)
ChallengeMany low-income residents faced unstable incomes and couldn't cover basic costs.
$500 a month, no strings attached, for 125 residents of Stockton, California.
28% → 40%recipients in full-time work, Feb 2019 to Feb 2020 (control: 32% → 37%)RCTRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend
ChallengeAlaska wanted residents to share directly in the state's oil wealth.
An annual cash payment to every Alaska resident, funded by oil revenue.
+1.8 pppart-time work from the dividend; no effect on employmentQuasi-experimentalRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
ChallengeLow-paid work often left families in poverty, and welfare could discourage employment.
A tax refund that tops up the earnings of low-paid working families.
Up to 2.8 pprise in single mothers' relative labor force participation after 1986 expansionQuasi-experimentalRead case - WorkedPoverty & social protection
Istanbul's 'Suspended Bill' (Askıda Fatura)
ChallengeThe pandemic left many families unable to pay their water and gas bills.
An online platform where residents anonymously pay struggling neighbors' utility bills.
280,000+bills paid by fellow residents by January 2022ObservationalRead case
Mixed results
- MixedPoverty & social protection
Finland's basic income experiment
ChallengeUnemployment benefits were complex and could discourage people from taking short-term work.
Unconditional monthly payments to 2,000 unemployed people, compared with a control group.
+6 daysof employment vs control group, Nov 2017–Oct 2018RCTRead case - MixedPoverty & social protection
Microcredit as a cure for poverty
ChallengePoor people lacked access to credit to start or grow small businesses.
Small loans for poor entrepreneurs, tested in six randomized trials on four continents.
0 of 6trials found transformative income gainsRCTRead case