YouthSave is a pioneering project designed to increase savings and measure development outcomes among low-income youth in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal. The goals of YouthSave research are to measure the uptake, savings outcomes, experiences, and developmental impacts of youth savings accounts (YSAs) on clients and financial institutions. YouthSave targets youth from low-income families to understand how saving affects the lives of youth from this population. These low-income youth are not representative of all Ghanaian youth but represent a subgroup of youth least likely to experience optimum youth development.
Additionally, little evidence exists regarding the impact of financial assets on youth development—particularly educational, health, and psychosocial outcomes. This report begins to address this gap by presenting research on educational, financial capability, health, and psychosocial outcomes of youth and their parents in the YouthSave Ghana Experiment.
Project: YouthSave
Citation
Chowa, G. A. N., Ansong, D., Masa, R., Despard, M. R., Osei-Akoto, I., Richmond, A.-A., Agyei-Holmes, A., & Sherraden, M. (2012). Youth and saving in Ghana: A baseline report from the YouthSave Ghana Experiment (CSD Research Report No. 12-56). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.