The June 14 Washington Post essay by Anton Jäger and Daniel Zamora Varga, “The problem with universal basic income programs,” mischaracterized the impact and intention of direct cash transfers, arguing they “forestall systemic or structural changes.” The authors employed a causal fallacy in claiming the spread of cash programs such as universal basic income are […]
Blog - Yearly Archives: 2023
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Recipients, Research
For refugees in cities, large cash transfers support self-reliance
For families fleeing conflict or crisis, the world is short on solutions. In the past decade, relief organizations have been forced to make steep cuts to rations provided due to budget constraints, while wealthy countries have welcomed fewer than 1% of refugees. For the 33M refugees unable to return home, building a new life in […]
Operations, Recipients
The power of a mobile phone & mobile money
Mobile money is a financial technology that allows people to store, send, and receive money using basic mobile phones through text messages—no internet connection or traditional bank required. Originally developed in Kenya in 2007 with M-PESA, mobile money has grown to serve over 640 million people worldwide, with more than half of all accounts located […]
Operations
Fraud in D.R.C. – our apology and response
Update as of September 24, 2024: Update as of November 16, 2023: since the original post below, we’ve completed our investigation and are sharing these updates: Summary GiveDirectly has delivered cash transfers to some of the poorest households across sub-Saharan Africa for over a decade. Cash aid sent directly to recipients’ mobile money accounts is […]
Operations
How AI helped 6x our disaster response speed
For nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ian hit Ft. Myers, Florida, Shannon P. went without power. Shannon relies on food stamps to make ends meet and is dependent on insulin, which must be refrigerated. To power her fridge, she had to purchase a generator and a constant supply of gas to run it, costing hundreds […]
Recipients, Research
Evidence on how cash transfers empower women in poverty
Donations to GiveDirectly put power in the hands of recipients, 62% of whom are women.1 On International Women’s Day, hear directly from women and girls in poverty in Malawi about the unique ways that direct cash empowers them: This impact is more than anecdotal; research finds that cash aid lets women improve their lives in […]
Opinions, Recipients
Sharing stories of poverty but not ‘poverty porn’
“The sight of a child so starved he’s too weak to cry… it’s enough to make the angels cry,” says Sally Struthers, strolling through a slum in an unidentified south Asian country. These Christian Children’s Fund ads, which ran for two decades, exemplify the ‘poverty porn’ trope still employed by many charities––a practice so ubiquitous […]