Opinion: Studies Show Promise of Giving Cash Directly to Needy

A New York Times online opinion piece discusses the debate over direct cash payments to poor people in the developing world and highlights recent research suggesting the practice can yield long-term economic benefits.

Writing for the Times’s opinion blog Fixes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tina Rosenberg notes the growing profile of cash-giveaway charity GiveDirectly and cites promising results achieved by government-run programs in Uganda that give people grants to start businesses or improve their job prospects, with recipients determining how to spend the money.

In both Uganda programs, grant recipients largely launched businesses and were earning significantly higher incomes after one and a half to four years than those in nonrecipient control groups.