Payday Loans v. Plasma Donation

Economically insecure people need small boosts of funds now and then someway or another. 

Young people, in particular, often haven't had time to build up emergency fund savings to deal with these situations and haven't developed the credit to have credit cards to solve this problem for them.

Payday loans and other exploitive short term small loan finance at high interest rates are one way that this happens. Plasma donation is another. We should look for another way to meet this need. 

We find that access to a plasma donation center reduces demand (inquiries) for payday and installment loans by 6.5% and 8.1%, respectively, with larger effects (13.1% and 15.7%, respectively) on younger borrowers. Moreover, foot traffic increases by 7-10% at essential and non-essential goods establishments when a new plasma center opens nearby. Our findings suggest that plasma donation helps households smooth consumption without appealing to high-cost debt.

Link here.