Do cash transfers reduce poverty in developing countries?

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1. 1

   The Impact of Cash Transfers: A Review of the Evidence from Low- and Middle-income Countries

   Journal of Social Policy (Bastagli et al.)Published Oct 10, 2018Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “This article presents the findings of a review of the impact of non-contributory cash transfers on individuals and households in low- and middle-income countries, covering the literature of 15 years, from 2000 to 2015. Based on evidence extracted from 165 studies, retrieved through a systematic search and screening process, this article discusses the impact of cash transfers on 35 indicators covering six outcome areas: monetary poverty; education; health and nutrition; savings, investment and production; work; and empowerment. For most of the studies, cash transfers contributed to progress in the selected indicators in the direction intended by policymakers. Despite variations in the size and strength of the underlying evidence base by outcome and indicator, this finding is consistent across all outcome areas. The article also investigates unintended effects of cash transfer receipt, such as potential reductions in adult work effort and increased fertility, finding limited evidence for such unintended effects. Finally, the article highlights gaps in the evidence base and areas which would benefit from additional future research.”

2. 2

   Impact of large-scale cash transfers in low- and lower-middle-income countries (L&MICs): Poverty and climate resilience outcomes: a systematic review

   Research paper (Nduku et al.)Published May 1, 2026Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “This technical report presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impacts of large one-off cash transfers on poverty and climate resilience outcomes in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Following Campbell Collaboration guidance, the review synthesises 19 impact-evaluation studies covering 15 interventions implemented between 2014 and 2024, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It examines effects on household consumption and expenditure, income, assets, savings, food security, employment, business outcomes and climate-resilience indicators including irrigation, input use, adaptive capacity and livelihood diversification. The findings indicate reliable poverty-reduction effects, but more limited and mixed evidence on climate resilience without complementary support.”

3. 3

   The impact of conditional cash transfers on health outcomes and use of health services in low and middle income countries

   Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Lagarde et al.)Published Oct 7, 2009Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “Overall, design quality and analysis limited the risks of bias. Several CCT programmes provided strong evidence of a positive impact on the use of health services, nutritional status and health outcomes, respectively assessed by anthropometric measurements and self-reported episodes of illness. It is hard to attribute these positive effects to the cash incentives specifically because other components may also contribute. Several studies provide evidence of positive impacts on the uptake of preventive services by children and pregnant women. We found no evidence about effects on health care expenditure. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Conditional cash transfer programmes have been the subject of some well-designed evaluations, which strongly suggest that they could be an effective approach to improving access to preventive services. Their replicability under different conditions - particularly in more deprived settings - is still unclear because they depend on effective primary health care and mechanisms to disburse payments. Further rigorous evaluative research is needed, particularly where CCTs are being introduced in low income countries, for example in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.”

4. 4

   The impact of cash transfers on subjective well-being and mental health in low- and middle- income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

   Research paper (McGuire et al.)Published Nov 13, 2020Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “However, there is a substantial amount of heterogeneity in the estimated effects (I-squared = 64% and 95% Prediction interval: 0.0021, 0.215). CT value, both in absolute terms and relative to previous income, are significant predictors of the effect size. We find only weak evidence that the impact diminishes over time. Four randomized controlled trials in our sample were designed to identify the spillover effects of CTs on the SWB and MH outcomes of non-recipients. Two found negative spillovers but the average effect is not statistically significant and is close to zero.Discussion: Cash transfers significantly increase MH and SWB in low- and middle-income countries. More research on the long run (5+ years) effects is needed, as well as further analysis of the community and household spillover effects of cash transfers on MH and SWB outcomes. We encourage the inclusion of MH and SWB metrics in impact evaluations of interventions to enable the assessment of their relative cost-effectiveness at improving lives compared to cash transfers.”

5. 5

   Cash transfers, social protection and poverty reduction

   International Journal of Social Welfare (Slater)Published Apr 29, 2011Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “Slater R. Cash transfers, social protection and poverty reduction Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 250–259 © 2011 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. Cash transfers form an important and growing part of social protection programming in many developing countries. This article evaluates the use of different types of cash transfers in different regional contexts as a tool for reducing poverty and inequality in developing countries. Particular attention is paid to knowledge about the appropriateness and cost‐effectiveness of targeted versus universal cash transfers and about conditional versus unconditional transfers. The article finds that a fine balance is required. On the one hand, overambitious procedures for targeting or conditionality should be avoided where administrative capacity is low. On the other hand, to rule out any possibility of conditionality or targeting on the grounds of weak administrative capacity leaves only the option of universal transfers.”

6. 6

   Cash transfers literature review.

   Research paper (Arnold et al.)Published Jan 1, 2011Checked Oct 3, 2026

   “This paper provides a synthesis of current global evidence on the impact of cash transfers in developing countries and of what works in different contexts or for different development objectives. Cash transfers are direct regular and predictable non-contributory cash payments that help poor and vulnerable households to raise and smooth incomes. The term encompasses a range of instruments (e.g. social pensions child grants or public works programmes) and a spectrum of design implementation and financing options. While the primary purpose of cash transfers is to reduce poverty and vulnerability the evidence shows that they have proven potential to contribute directly or indirectly to a wider range of development outcomes.”

7. 7

   Cash Transfers in the Perinatal Period and Investigations of Infant Maltreatment.

   JAMA pediatrics (Agarwal et al.)Published Aug 1, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “After implementation of Rx Kids in 2024, the investigated allegation rate decreased to 15.5% (165 of 1065 infants) in Flint, falling below the investigated allegation rate of 20.6% (1303 of 6317 infants) among the control cities. Rx Kids was associated with a statistically significant 7.0-percentage-point decrease (95% CI, -12.9 to -1.0; P = .02) in the investigated allegation rate, corresponding to a 32% decrease relative to the preintervention period. There was a decrease in the rate of neglect-related, nonneglect-related, and substantiated allegations; these were directionally consistent with the primary outcome but not statistically significant. Results were robust to alternative model specifications.Conclusions and relevanceIn this study, the Rx Kids prenatal and infant cash prescription program was associated with a significant reduction in investigated allegations of maltreatment among infants. These findings provide important evidence about the role of economic stability in preventing child welfare system involvement.”

8. 8

   Estimating the human development impacts and economic returns from an adolescent cash 'plus' programme in Kenya: An economic modelling study.

   PLOS global public health (Rudgard et al.)Published Jul 24, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “Model parameters were derived from rigorous impact evaluations, nationally representative surveys, and Kenya's national social registry. The four-year intervention, costing US$46.1 million, is projected to reach 140,000 adolescents, and compared with the baseline, generate an additional 74,900 (+7%) years of schooling; and avert 1,420 (-8%) adolescent pregnancies, 1,500 (-11%) child marriages, 2,970 (-3%) experiences of sexual violence, and 21,800 (-8%) experiences of emotional/physical violence. Furthermore, the intervention is projected to generate US$318 million in discounted lifetime labour earnings, representing a seven-fold return on investment. The estimated cost was US$567 per additional year of schooling, and US$109 when benefits across multiple outcomes were considered, comparing favourably with other adolescent education interventions. Findings were robust to sensitivity analyses, with a >98% probability that returns exceeded programme costs. These findings suggest that scaling up an adolescent focused cash 'plus' programme could substantially improve adolescent human development, while delivering strong economic returns and good value for money.”

9. 9

   A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies testing effects of cash transfers on child cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development in low- or middle income countries.

   Communications psychology (Fernald et al.)Published Mar 24, 2026Checked Oct 4, 2026

   “To examine risk of bias in the studies, we used the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tools for individually randomized trials (RoB 2) and cluster randomized trials (RoB 2 CRT). After 3.6 years, cash transfers had a small but significant positive effect on cognitive (Cohen's d = 0.08, 95% CI 0.04, 0.13), language (d = 0.09, 95% CI 0.04, 0.13), and gross motor outcomes (d = 0.07, 95% CI 0.03, 0.11); only conditional cash transfers showed significant effects on socio-emotional outcomes (d = 0.17, 95% CI 0.04, 0.31). Across outcomes, findings were strongest for children in families receiving conditional cash transfers and a sub-set of cash transfer programs ("cash-plus", which integrated health, nutrition, or parenting support). Limitations of the analysis are that we could only include a small number of studies, and that there was a great degree of heterogeneity among cash transfer programs, and thus our findings are exploratory. In spite of these limitations, our findings suggest that cash transfers were most effective to promote child development when the transfers were bundled with crucial services or support for families, not simply as cash alone.”