91探花

Donations to 91探花 put power in the hands of recipients, 62% of whom are women.¹ On International Women鈥檚 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 many ways. Below, we break down the evidence by story.

Maternal & infant health

Lenita – 鈥淲hen I was pregnant, I would fall sick [and] could not afford the fare to go to the hospital.鈥�

Studies find that cash can: 

• Increase the use of health facilities.²
• Improve birth weight and infant mortality³听鈥� one study found 91探花鈥檚 program reduced child mortality by ~70% and improved child growth.⁴

Education & domestic violence

Agatha – 鈥淢y husband was so abusive… so I left him and went back to try to finish school.鈥�

Studies find that cash can:听

• Reduce incidents of physical abuse by a male partner of a woman²听鈥� one study found 91探花鈥檚 program reduced physical intimate partner violence.⁵
• Increase school attendance for girls.¹

Decision-making power

Beatrice – 鈥淢y husband and I always argued鈥� about how to spend what little money we had. Now, when we receive the money, we plan together.鈥�

Studies find that cash can: 

• Increase a woman鈥檚 likelihood of being the sole or joint decision-maker.²

Entrepreneurship & savings

Anesi – 鈥淲ith the businesses I started, I want to buy land for my children so they will never forget me.鈥� 

Studies find that cash can: 

• Increase entrepreneurship²听鈥� one study of 91探花鈥檚 program found new business creation doubled.⁶听 For more on female entrepreneurs,听飞补迟肠丑鈫�听听
• Increase the number of families saving and the amount they saved²听鈥� one study of 91探花鈥檚 program found women doubled their savings.⁶听To learn about women’s savings groups,听听

Elderly support

Faidesi – 鈥淣ow that I am old, I can鈥檛 farm and often sleep hungry. I would have been dead if it wasn鈥檛 for these payments.鈥� 

Studies find that cash can: 

• Reduce the likelihood of having had an illness in the last three months⁷听鈥� one study in Tanzania found cash reduced the number of doctor visits made by women over 60.⁸

Footnotes

1. The majority of recipients are women because our biggest program (large transfers) allows families to select a single head of household to receive the funds. Women often handle household spending so are slightly over-represented 听as the recipient in this program.听Also we run a few specialty programs that are explicitly targeting women (e.g. this听听or this听)