TED-Ed: What’s the best way to lift people out of poverty?

What’s the best way to lift people out of poverty?

In 2018, a nonprofit gave every adult in the Ahenyo village $500. Most families had lived in extreme poverty for generations, and this sum was roughly equivalent to their annual salaries. The money came with no strings attached to how it could be spent. Would this lift villagers out of poverty or be another failed philanthropic endeavor? Explore aid programs and how they address people's needs. [Directed by Jolene Tan, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio].

Giving every adult in a Kenyan village $500—about a year’s salary—led to higher business revenues, better nutrition, and improved school performance. Decades of traditional aid, from education to microfinance, often showed disappointing results in raising incomes. Research now shows that letting people decide how to use cash yields strong, ripple effects across entire communities. Still, experts caution that poverty’s deep roots mean long-term solutions require further study.

Direct Cash Giving Outperforms Traditional Aid in Fighting Poverty

Direct cash transfers have shown surprising power to improve lives where traditional aid programs often fall short. In one Kenyan village, no-strings-attached $500 grants led to a 65% rise in business revenues and better health and education outcomes within two years. Unlike top-down efforts that assume outsiders know best, cash giving trusts those experiencing poverty to choose what matters most. While these effects are promising, understanding how such gains last over generations remains an open question.