These experiments could lift millions out of dire poverty

Photo caption: People taking part in a poverty-reduction trial in Niger receive cash and record-keeping booklets. Photo credit: Andrea Borgarello for World Bank. Article by Jeff Tollefson. Nature – June 22, 2022.

Randomized trials are changing the way governments and aid organizations study — and deliver — measures to reduce inequality and poverty.

In 2012, the government of Niger began giving some of its poorest citizens free money. Over the next few years, around 100,000 participating households received 24 monthly payments of roughly US$16 — which more than doubled their typical spending power. The programme was based on decades of evidence from carefully controlled trials, suggesting that simple cash infusions can transform lives. And Niger is not alone: cash transfers have become a popular tool as governments try to alleviate poverty. […]

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