In the Middle East, refugee camps are expensive to run-- particularly because shipping food aid is expensive, and the refugees feel victimized in an environment where they have no agency or purchasing power. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has moved refugees in Jordan out of camps and has given cash instead of in-kind aid, and new possibilities emerge with mobile money by the aid of new technology. The results have shown that refugees feel more empowered and the costs associated with their aid are reduced.

More and more economists and financiers are supporting the idea of a government-supported basic income check for everyone, regardless of financial status.

One in three children in Peru are stunted by a lack of nutritious foods in their diet. In 2005, the government gave cash hand-outs to poor mothers, but only on the condition that they had regular health check-ups and their children went to school. By 2014 the number of children growing up too small had halved.

While farmers’ markets popularity has increased in the last decade, the higher prices mitigate equal access to such provisions -- and, by extension, the health benefits. As a result, non-profits and farmers' markets across New Hampshire are collaborating with a state program, Granite State Market Watch, to enable low-income food stamp recipients to use the markets. The state matches every dollar worth of stamps, providing needed purchasing power to enjoy the fresh bounty as well as an increased customer base and revenue stream for the local farmers.

In Thailand, the Issara Institute gives freed workers money, instead of services, and a chance to make their own choices. The system disavows paternalistic programs that tie strings to aid.

The traditional approach to poverty emphasizes government and social assistance from well-meaning social workers. Mauricio Lim Miller, a social services expert, spent years researching how families escape poverty before founding the Family Independence Initiative, an organization that provides no services or direct assistance and still sees results for the families involved.