The long term impacts of grants on poverty: 9-year evidence from Uganda’s Youth Opportunities Program

In 2008, Uganda gave $400/person to thousands of young people to help them start skilled trades, work more, and raise incomes. Four years on, an experimental evaluation found grants raised work by 17% and earnings by 38% (Blattman, Fiala, Martinez 2014). After 9 years, we find these gains have dissipated. Grantees’ investment leveled off; controls eventually increased their incomes through business and casual labor; and so both groups converged in employment, earnings, and consumption levels. We see little effect on mortality, fertility, or family health and education. However, grants had lasting impacts on durable asset stocks and skilled work.