Cash Transfer Size: How Much Is Enough?

This brief examines the effects of varying cash transfer values on outcomes by reviewing the evidence since 2016, inclusive of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the purposes of this brief and based on the sample of studies examined, high-value cash transfers refer to those greater than 30 percent of mean annual household income or consumption per capita for households in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. Low-value cash transfers refer to those of less than 30 percent of mean annual household income or consumption per capita for households in the bottom 40 percent, hereafter referred to simply as average annual income per capita.