Cash Empowers Over Control

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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.

Extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $2.15 a day, has long been seen as an intractable problem. But what if the solution is simple? What if you could eradicate extreme poverty by just giving people cash? That’s what Rory Stewart believes. He’s the former UK Secretary of State for International Development and now a senior advisor to GiveDirectly, a non-profit that has distributed $800 million — in cash — to 1.6 million people around the world, including right here in the US. Today on the show, Rory charts his evolution from cash transfer skeptic to evangelist, shares what he wishes philanthropists like Bill Gates would do with their billions, and explains why he thinks it’s possible to end extreme poverty in our lifetimes.

🎙️ Check out Rory's previous appearance on this show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

💸 Learn more about GiveDirectly at www.givedirectly.org

🎬 Watch Rory’s new TED Talk, “To End Extreme Poverty, Give Cash — Not Advice”

🎁 Get 20% off a Next Big Idea Club membership when you use code PODCAST at nextbigideaclub.com