A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries

TLDR

Extreme poverty persists among 1.2 billion people living under $1.25 a day, and researchers must determine what interventions work and whether they are transferable across contexts. The program combined short‑term aid with longer‑term support to enable participants to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Pilot projects in six countries involving 11,000 households yielded encouraging outcomes. Banerjee et al., Science, 10.1126/science.1260799.

Abstract

Attacking the problem of extreme poverty A persistent concern about wellintentioned efforts to improve living standards for the 1.2 billion people who survive (if it can be called that) on less than $1.25 US per day is figuring out what works. A second concern is figuring out whether what works in one setting can be made to work in another. Banerjee et al. describe encouraging results from a set of pilot projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Pakistan, and Peru encompassing 11,000 households. Each project provided short-term aid and longer-term support to help participants graduate to a sustainable level of existence. Science , this issue 10.1126/science.1260799