Giving direct cash aid to families in extreme poverty has long proven effective at helping people cover basic necessities like food, school fees, and home repairs. In Liberia, where women face high rates of gender inequality and often lack financial control, traditional government assistance programs targeted female household members. However, because some men felt excluded by this setup, researchers and officials tested a new approach: providing equal payouts to both partners and encouraging them to plan their spending together.
In 2022, an experimental program funded by the World Bank, the Liberian government, and the nonprofit organization GiveDirectly provided over 2,300 households in Maryland and Bomi counties with $750 split across four installments. Half of the receiving couples participated in a joint financial planning session where they chose spending priorities using visual posters and stickers to accommodate lower rural literacy levels. For many families, such as farm worker Christian and her husband, the joint arrangement delivered clear economic benefits. The couple agreed on key expenses, using the money for school fees, food, debt repayment, solar light bulbs, and roof repairs.
Follow-up evaluations conducted one year later confirmed that families participating in joint planning were economically better off than those receiving cash alone. However, researchers discovered a surprising and troubling secondary outcome among couples with a documented history of domestic conflict. For these high-risk households, participating in the joint financial planning exercise was linked to an increase in reported intimate partner violence.
Experts, including World Bank senior economist Sarika Gupta and UNICEF impact evaluation specialist Amber Peterman, suggest two primary reasons for this rise in conflict. Openly agreeing on financial priorities means one partner can easily hold the other accountable if someone strays from the plan, potentially creating friction. Additionally, shared decision-making shifts household power dynamics away from men, which can trigger resistance or violence in relationships already vulnerable to strain. The study highlights the subtle complexities of designing anti-poverty initiatives that effectively balance financial empowerment with domestic safety.