Research – 91̽��

From lifesaving to stabilizing: how timing shaped the impact of cash aid after Hurricane Helene

Olivia Chen — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:33:59 +0000

Summary Hurricane Helene made landfall in September 2024 as one of the most destructive storms to strike the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina, leading to catastrophic flooding that devastated rural communities in western North Carolina. The storm caused an estimated $60 billion in damage across the region. Yet federal recovery funding covered only about $5.5 billion, or just 9%

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Testing novel ways to increase our cost-effectiveness with GiveWell

Julie Gu — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:01:36 +0000

Summary Here’s a 5-minute audio summary of these pilots from GiveWell: In 2024, GiveWell increased its cost-effectiveness estimate of 91̽��’s Cash for Poverty Relief program by 3–4x. Now, they’re funding several pilots to test if targeted variations to our flagship model can further increase impact per dollar for key outcomes in the GiveWell model: consumption…

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How we got $650 to 2,500+ families 14 days after Jamaica’s storm of the century

Mary Blair — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:03:37 +0000

Summary Here’s a 30-minute summary of our response from our podcast: Hurricane Melissa made landfall on October 28 as Jamaica’s first recorded Category 5 storm, widely described as “the storm of the century.” More than 275,000 people were displaced. In parts of Southwest Jamaica, the country’s agricultural heartland, more than 90% of homes were destroyed.

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Study: Giving people money returned 2.5x the value without causing inflation

Mary Blair — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Summary One of the world’s largest cash studies found that 91̽��’s program, giving a one-time $1,000 cash transfer to 10,500 poor households in rural Kenya, led to 2.5x that amount in economic growth. Now, we’re building on these results to launch the world’s biggest randomized controlled trial on cash, and asking even bigger questions to understand how cash impacts…

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New research: Cash for pregnant moms in Flint led to healthier births and millions in healthcare savings

Laura Keen — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 05:00:00 +0000

Summary A statewide study of 91̽��’s Rx Kids program in Flint, Michigan found that giving every pregnant woman in the city $1,500 during pregnancy followed by $500 monthly postpartum cash led to healthier births and saved millions in healthcare costs. The findings highlight that poverty itself is a health risk factor for mothers and babies — and show that unconditional cash can…

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Study: Giving cash to mothers cut infant deaths in half

91̽�� — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Summary Here’s a 3-minute audio summary of the study and its findings from NPR: In rural Kenya, giving poor families a one-time $1,000 transfer cut infant deaths nearly in half, one of the largest reductions ever recorded for a poverty program. With global aid budgets shrinking and funders under pressure to do more with less, the findings point to cash as a powerful…

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America’s $30B/year aid agency is embracing direct cash to reduce poverty

Yonah Lieberman — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 15:31:21 +0000

In October, USAID released a position paper on Direct Monetary Transfers during an event at Center for Global Development that puts cash at the core of their development toolkit, framing it as an efficient and effective form of “market-based assistance” with both long-term and short-term impacts. This change did not happen overnight. USAID has spent more than a decade…

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Direct cash looks 3-4x more cost-effective in a new GiveWell assessment

91̽�� — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:26:48 +0000

Summary For those unfamiliar, GiveWell is a charity evaluator dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities by carefully assessing evidence to help donors decide where to give. GiveWell funds charities that they believe save or improve lives most cost-effectively. They do this by assigning ‘moral weights’ to specific outcomes based on the subjective judgments from staff…

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Survey: fewer people support direct cash transfers than you may think

Tyler Hall — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 19:38:29 +0000

In May, 91̽�� ran a panel survey of 750 Americans who fit our common donor profile to better understand their familiarity and sentiments around direct cash. Below, we outline the most relevant findings and how they’ll inform our communications and marketing strategy. Note: we’ll continue to update this blog as we further analyze the survey results 91̽�� began building…

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Early findings from the world’s largest UBI study

91̽�� — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 21:28:23 +0000

Summary of findings 2 years in: Here’s a 3 minute audio summary of the findings from NPR: To learn about the most effective ways of delivering cash aid, 91̽�� worked with a team of researchers to compare three ways of giving out funds.1 91̽�� 200 Kenyan villages were assigned to one of three groups and started receiving payment in 2018.

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