How can we improve students' educational achievement? Can radio instruction successfully support distance learning, particularly in settings such as the COVID-19 pandemic? In rural Peru, researchers measured whether remote support from educational coaches for caregivers during MateWasi — a radio program with interactive math lessons for preschool-aged children— impacted their children’s math learning outcomes. Results show that remote support increased the involvement of caregivers in their children’s educational development. In turn, children’s math learning improved by 0.12 standard deviations on an index that measured outcomes including oral counting, spatial ability, comparing of quantities, and solving word problems related to addition and subtraction.

People often report wanting to save more money than they actually do, and rigorous evidence has shown that simple reminders to save can be effective at helping people save more. Researchers working with IPA carried out evaluations in Ghana, Peru, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic to build the evidence base about text-message reminders to save. In Peru, the research team worked with Federación Peruana de Cajas Municipales de Ahorro y Crédito (FEPCMAC) to evaluate the impact of behaviorally targeted text messages on savings behavior. Preliminary results find that the reminders to save led people to use their bank accounts more frequently, and this impact persisted six months after the reminders ceased, but this did not lead to increased savings; varying the timing and content of the messages did not impact the results.

More than one fifth of the world’s population lives on less than US$1.25 per day. While many credit and training programs have not been successful at raising income levels for these ultra-poor households, recent support for livelihoods programs has spurred interest in evaluating whether comprehensive “big push” interventions may allow for a sustainable transition to self-employment and a higher standard of living. To test this theory, in six countries researchers evaluated a multi-faceted approach aimed at “graduating” the ultra-poor from poverty. They found that generally the approach had long-lasting economic and self-employment impacts and that the long-run benefits outweighed their up-front costs. In Peru, the gains were smaller than in most other countries.