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ANALYSIS
GiveDirectly's 12-year cash-transfer study shows sustained impact
5 June 20267 min readGiveDirectly research
Households receiving unconditional cash transfers in rural Kenya still show higher consumption, assets, and psychological well-being over a decade later.
GiveDirectly's flagship randomised controlled trial in Siaya County, Kenya — one of the longest-running cash-transfer studies in the world — has now been re-surveyed at the 12-year mark.
Recipient households show higher consumption, more livestock, and improved food security relative to control villages. Effects on child schooling and adult mental health persist.
"Send money directly" was a controversial idea in 2011. It is now one of the most rigorously evidenced interventions in development economics.
