NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Cash assistance has been a popular response to the COVID-19 crisis, with 340 programs introduced by 156 countries since March 2020. While cash transfers have been shown to be effective for poverty relief in many settings, the pandemic poses a range of new challenges for cash. For example, can cash transfers help people to cope when a pandemic hits on top of the lean season, when people are already going hungry? How does cash assistance affect food security and public health behavior within refugee populations, who may be uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19? To what extent do universal basic income programs help beneficiaries navigate unforeseen shocks? Did COVID-19 disrupt markets in rural areas, and to what extent did cash cushion the blow?

This webinar will share findings from three evaluations that consider these questions and assess the impacts of cash transfers on recipients’ socio-economic wellbeing in Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, and Malawi within the context of the pandemic.

Time: 10:00 AM EST