A new IPA study from Malawi found that allowing workers to defer receiving part of their wages significantly increases savings.Working with a large agricultural employer, researchers Lasse Brune, Jason Kerwin, and Eric Chyn found that deferred wage payments may help address self-control issues that could normally inhibit savings.A growing body of evidence suggests that changing the timing (smaller, more frequent payments versus larger, spread-out payments), and disbursement method of wage payments, has important impacts on financial health.Deferred wages may be an effective savings device for some, while others may require more frequent smaller payments to manage consumption needs.

Despite predictions, remittance flows declined only slightly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.In regions like Latin America and South Asia, remittance flows actually increased by 6.5% and 5.2%, respectively, despite high rates of global unemployment.Data from an IPA study in Nicaragua finds that formal remittances increased about 25% in the months following lockdown.This global rise in formal remittances could be attributed to a shift from informal remittance flows to formal and digital channels, the latter of which is easier to track; more liquidity from social protection programs; or an increase in altruism.

The economic crisis accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women’s economic and skilling activities.Containment measures like physical distancing, curfews, and lockdowns have exacerbated pre-existing gender differences in time use, increasing the pressures of unpaid care work that fall on women.