What’s The Right Transfer Amount?

There's no such thing as a perfect number. But there are ways to arrive at an amount that's grounded in local reality while remaining honest about limits. Here's how we get there.

For every country in which we operate, we define a standard transfer amount based on three things: the national poverty line, current prices, and our two thirds rule that keeps the program financially sustainable.

Why Bother With a Standard?

Without one, we'd find ourselves asking what is the right amount every time we start a new program. That quickly becomes complicated, and without a standardized method behind it, every amount is just a subjective call that's hard to explain and defend. 

A standardized method removes one operational complexity from establishing a new cash program, making it easier to get off the ground. We want to make things easier, not harder. That's how we can start more programs, and, in turn, lift more people out of poverty. 

The same logic applies to setting a baseline contribution amount per country, regardless of whether someone lives in a city or a village. Adjusting for location would require continuous tracking of individual circumstances and movements. This raises privacy concerns and also eats into the organization’s operational budget. Keeping things simple allows Social Income to be more honest, cost-effective, and transparent.

What Meaningful Support Looks Like 

It should help an individual move out of poverty — by "someone," we mean an average person living in poverty in a specific country, knowing that situations vary widely.

The amount has to be able to impact the following : In the short-term, it should help cover essentials. After that, it should leave room for choice: be it saving, handling an unexpected cost, or investing. That remaining margin matters.

Why do we not choose to increase the baseline contribution amount? More is not always better because every increase comes with a trade-off.

More made available for one person means that fewer people are given an opportunity. The decision between depth and reach is built into everything we do. There's no getting around it.

Calculating the Amount

Three steps. Simple in principle, but deliberate in design.

1. Start with the national poverty line
   The poverty line is built on a basket of essentials — food, housing, basic non-food items — and it's the best compass we have for what survival actually costs in a given place. It reflects local reality rather than a global average.

2. Adjust for inflation
   Poverty data goes out of date. A poverty line from 2018 doesn't tell you much if the price of rice has doubled since then. We use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to bring the figure up to the present — not to track general cost of living, but to preserve purchasing power relative to the original poverty-line benchmark.

3. Apply the two thirds rule
   This is a deliberate trade-off. Two-thirds makes a meaningful contribution toward essential needs without fully replacing income — which matters for both autonomy and sustainability. In practice, it lets us also support roughly 30% more people with the same resources.

Put it together:

In practice, it looks like this:

Keeping it Current

We review transfer amounts twice a year in June and December. This is done to ensure our numbers still hold and align with what we're learning from impact measurements. If conditions shift significantly, we adjust ongoing programs or apply updated amounts to new ones going forward.

Programs designed by external partners may use their own predefined transfer amounts, typically tied to fixed budgets. Those aren't ours to adjust.

What This is Really About

The goal was never to find a perfect number. It was to be honest and transparent — to develop a clear, logical way of setting a contribution amount that we can communicate openly. An amount that holds up in practice, supports people in meeting their immediate needs, and contributes to long-term stability.

For us, this is simple math with a mission: a fair, transparent starting point in every country we work in.