Savings Groups, Livelihoods and Education: Two Case Studies in Ghana

Does access to better village‐level facilities for saving and borrowing improve educational outcomes and expenditure? Based on a literature review and case studies in Ghana commissioned by Plan UK, this paper finds that savings groups programmes, such as village savings and loans associations, help poor rural households pay for education in some contexts but not others. Households use loans directly to pay school expenses and also invest in income‐generating activities that allow them to raise educational expenditure in the longer term. There are additional indirect effects on education through health care, nutrition and household decision‐making.