Can We End Poverty by Just Giving People Cash?
The Next Big Idea
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Cash Empowers Over Control
Despite concerns about cash transfers leading to misuse on non-essential items, evidence shows significant positive outcomes at the population level. Cash recipients exhibit increases in income, savings, business creation, school enrollment, and nutritional quality. The data indicates that the potential for misuse is minimal compared to the overall benefits. Furthermore, comparing cash transfers to alternative support options reveals that direct cash assistance outperforms training programs, as demonstrated by a study where cash resulted in substantial growth in business activity, while a similar investment in business support yielded no measurable impact after three years.
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