Youth Savings Patterns and Performance in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal

Research suggests that accumulating savings not only creates economic opportunity but also improves developmental outcomes, including school enrolment, academic achievement, and health. But the percentage of children aged 15 and 24 with formal savings ranges from 3% to 26%. This report summarizes key findings from a two-year study that tracks account uptake, saving performance and patterns in youth saving accounts to determine whether offering them formal savings accounts leads to account uptake and savings. 

Created in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, YouthSave has investigated the potential of savings accounts as a tool for financial inclusion and youth development through tailored, sustainable savings products with local financial institutions and assessed saving performance and development outcomes in cooperation with local research partners. The project was an initiative of the YouthSave Consortium led by Save the Children (SC), the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis, the New America Foundation (NAF), and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).