Impacts of microfinance

This section uses a growing database of empirical studies to show how microfinance impacts the ability of poor people to improve the conditions in which they live. Over the last three decades, poor people have used small loans to start new enterprises and expand ongoing ones. They have taken advantage of increased earnings to improve consumption levels, send their children to school, and build assets. They have accumulated savings to provide protection against illness and sudden shocks. They have accessed better health care. Women, the particular focus of many microfinance programs, have become empowered to participate in the decisions that most affect their lives.

Because most multilateral donors and national governments adopted a common strategy for poverty alleviation in the 1990s embodied in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) this section is organized to illustrate how microfinance specifically promotes progress towards the MDGs. The information in this section will be periodically updated with the latest impact assessment research.