SUCCESS STORIES
The director of Sam Altman’s basic income study says one of the most interesting results was an increased interest in starting a business
What happens when you give people $1,000 a month? They start thinking about launching a business.
These Coloradans experiencing homelessness were given different sums of money – no strings attached. Here’s what happened
“It’s based on the mindset,” he said. “It’s not how little I’m getting, but what I do with what I have.”
75 artists received $9,000 each in a basic income trial. The cash helped a yarn guru to buy a house and a new car.
Torri Hanna said the basic income program helped her navigate a tough period of her life.
Meet the new moms using up to $700 in monthly basic income to afford childcare. It could be the answer to helping parents stay employed.
Some parents say guaranteed basic income helped them afford childcare, allowing them to secure jobs and promotions at work.
In experiments, San Diego researchers gave cash to low-income people. Here’s what they learned.
A new report details the impact of four direct payment, guaranteed-income programs for San Diegan County residents.
Child Tax Credit expansion boosted housing affordability and stability, study shows
A temporary, pandemic-era expansion of the Child Tax Credit improved housing affordability for families with low incomes, according to University of Michigan research.
![With a growing body of research that disabuses the notion that the guaranteed income encourages frivolous spending or laziness, West said she is more likely to be queried on how a guaranteed income program can be implemented. The money can provide a cushion for those who live on the finance edge and comes without the kind of regulations and limitations of more conventional public assistance like food stamps or housing vouchers, researchers say. What the guaranteed money buys in many cases was time, West said. “When you’re very low-income, that translates into time scarcity,” West said. “You’re spending all this time navigating these systems — child care, transportation. Guaranteed income unlocks some time for you.” Some used the time for job training that led to better work, researchers have found across the country, or to spend more time with children, leading to improved school performance. In Baltimore’s pilot, preliminary results showed participants’ labor force participation increased from 64% to 71%, though their unemployment rate remained more than twice that of average Baltimore residents. With many of the programs still fairly new, it remains to be seen how long their positive effects on recipients last, researchers said. Many of the pilot plans including Baltimore’s used federal pandemic relief funds that are expiring, leaving them without a readily available source of support. West said guaranteed income is “an imprecise tool” and can’t by itself fix the underlying causes of systemic poverty, such as the legacy of “racial redlining and neighborhood segregation” that Scott has pointed to in making his case for the program. “What is very clear is the history of redlining isn’t going to be solved by guaranteed income,” West said. Particularly in red states, there are those with “a potent ideological objection” to giving free money to the poor, said Matthew Reed, executive director of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement in Iowa. This spring, the institute was about halfway through a two-year pilot program that gives $500 a month to 110 people in the Des Moines area when the Iowa Legislature banned the use of public funds in such programs. About half of the Iowa program’s $2.5 million costs come from public sources, including municipalities in its three-county area, so those funds are being spent first, saving private money for after the new law takes effect next year, Reed said. “It was certainly frustrating,” Reed said. Rather than waiting until the project’s conclusion to have “a more honest debate” about its merits, Reed said, legislators opted to say, “We don’t care what the results are. We don’t like it.” Legislators split largely on partisan lines. One Republican lawmaker called it “socialism on steroids,” while Democrats argued that local governments should be allowed to use their funds as they saw fit. Iowa State Sen. Scott Webster, a Republican, who shepherded the bill through his chamber, called guaranteed income “a terrible waste of taxpayer money.” He disputed research that supports the program’s benefits, saying it doesn’t adequately track how recipients spend the money on the debit card as well as other funds at their disposal. “Let’s say they use $500 [of program money] on groceries. What happened to the money they used to use for groceries. Where’d that go?” Webster said. Such sentiments reflect an unfair distrust and scrutiny of poor people, said Abigail Marquez, who oversaw the guaranteed income program in Los Angeles. The city’s pilot was the nation’s largest, a $38 million effort that served more than 3,000 residents. “Based on the results from the research, we learned that people were able to seek and obtain dignified work,” said Marquez, who manages the city’s Community Investment for Families Department. Another important outcome was the time freed up for recipients to spend with children and neighbors, and on their own health and well-being. “We saw that participants were able to leave a violent home environment because of the guaranteed income,” she said. The concept has found a friendly home in deeply blue California, which has multiple programs designed to help groups that include immigrants and those exiting foster care. Legislatures in other states have, like Iowa, blocked them, although two Democratic governors, in Arizona and Wisconsin, have vetoed the measures. The Texas Attorney General sued Harris County, which includes Houston, saying its guaranteed income program violated the state constitution’s ban against giving public money to an individual. The state’s Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the program, and county officials are considering adjustments to try getting around that. To turn guaranteed income pilots into more permanent parts of the social safety net will require funding, of course, but also political will, supporters said. “If it’s a public program, it needs political support,” Reed said. “To do it at a larger scale, it’s going to require public money and public buy-in.” The first mayor-led guaranteed income pilot similar to Baltimore’s launched in 2019 in Stockton, California. Other cities followed, and researchers have found across the board that recipients use the money in ways that make sense for their families, spending it on rent, utilities and food, said Suki Samra, who directed the Stockton program and now is executive director of the mayors’ group advocating for guaranteed income. Participants are consistently more likely to find long-term employment, she said, and to get some form of education when compared to a control group. “When you remove that constant drumbeat of anxiety, of worry, folks are able to take a step back, they’re able to dream,” Samra said. “They’re able to think about what their full potential is.” Although Baltimore stopped distributing benefits at the end of July, the study of its recipients continues. Researchers are expected to release next year a final study of the program, which will include data on recipients collected up to six months after the close of the program. Then what? Scott is among those who would like to see the concept implemented on a more comprehensive, national basis. When the city’s preliminary results were rolled out in June, Scott directly addressed federal lawmakers. “This should be a national thing,” he said in a news conference. “It can be and should be and it will be — I’m going to speak it into existence — part of the solution to end poverty for good in this country.” Samra said the mayors’ group believes an expansion of the child tax credit to include cash payments to parents would be a natural progression. “We’re seeing that as the most politically feasible tool,” she said. West said people have grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of a guaranteed income. Andrew Yang made it part of his run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. And during the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government sent stimulus money to more than 150 million households. “We all received a guaranteed income then,” she said. She envisions cities continuing to serve as “incubators of invention,” experimenting with how to build on guaranteed income pilots and work towards a goal that should be beyond politics. Baltimore, other cities try to answer: Can a handout ease the burden of poverty, and for how long?](https://basicincometoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/breanna-klemm-1nVBujxVJXU-unsplash-225x300.jpg)
Baltimore, other cities try to answer: Can a handout ease the burden of poverty, and for how long?
Michelle Vines with her children Mason Vines, then 3 and Rylee Oliver, then 2, applied for Baltimore’s guaranteed income pilot program in 2022, which was spearheaded by Mayor Brandon Scott.
After ‘promising findings,’ program expands that gives New Orleans teens $50 a week without conditions
New Orleans 12th grader Dejah Grimes was part of a pilot program, soon to be expanded, that gives students $50 per week with no strings attached.
Basic income could result in fewer trips to ER, new study suggests
Giving cash to poor people could result in fewer emergency department visits, a new study suggests.
How much is $1,000 a month worth? New study explores impact of basic income
Research so far shows basic income can help lower-income families afford the basics.
What a big experiment giving money to parents reveals
Giving people cash makes them less poor. It doesn’t fix everything.
Los Angeles gave families $1,000 a month in the biggest basic income pilot in the country. Now the results are in.
Direct cash payments improved recipients’ home lives.
A basic income program helped me get back on my feet when I was unemployed and struggling. And now I give back.
A basic income allowed Hope Davis to get back on her feet and give back to her community.
Georgia gave low-income Black women $20,000 over 2 years. A participant said the money helped her afford day care and pay bills.
Georgia’s basic income pilot helped low-income Black women afford bills and pay down debt.
What would you do if the state gave you an extra $500 a month? 150 San Diegans got a chance to find out
San Diego’s pilot was one of more than 30 such programs unfolding roughly in parallel across the nation.
How St. Paul’s guaranteed-income pilot program helped my family
Mothers and children benefit greatly from the stability provided by these initiatives — which are expanding across the Twin Cities region.
Denver Basic Income Project gave homeless people cash and saved taxpayers almost $600,000 in the process, report says
First-year study shows more stable housing, decreased use of emergency services among recipients
Report: Richmond’s guaranteed income pilot program showing signs of success
The program is now in its third cohort, according to a recent press release, and the city has set aside $500,000 of its 2025 budget to continue the program.
Why basic income makes you more likely to get a job: lessons from Tacoma and beyond
Interest in guaranteed basic income programs is gaining traction in some Washington cities. Tacoma started its second basic-income pilot in 2024, after a separate King County program. KUOW’s “Booming” looks into the lessons learned from such experiments.
Arts Sector gathers to discuss Status of the Artist in Ireland & results from first year of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot
Arts Sector gathers to discuss Status of the Artist in Ireland & results from first year of the Basic Income for the Arts pilot
New Mexico experimented with a basic income program that gave $500 a month to mixed-status immigrant families. They used the money to secure jobs.
A New Mexico guaranteed basic income program offered immigrant and undocumented households across the state $500 a month for a year.
Over 100 basic-income pilots have run in US cities. Now states are getting creative to fund no-strings-attached cash payments
Aimed at combating poverty, GBI faces political challenges and funding constraints.
Indy nonprofits gave families $500 a month. Here’s how it went.
The eastside Indianapolis groups chose 15 families to test a universal basic income program for a year and a half.
A year after a single mom stopped getting $500 a month through Chicago’s basic income program, she’s still holding down an apartment and making ends meet: ‘It was every single thing that I prayed for.’
Jennette Fisher and her 11-year-old daughter Sophia moved into a new apartment in January. Fisher is still setting up the furniture, but her Chicago suburb is starting to feel like home.
After first year of guaranteed basic income program in Iowa, what has it done for participants?
Wright said the extra cash gave her room to save money and time to find a place more suitable for her family.
11 states with guaranteed basic-income programs that give residents hundreds of dollars a month, no strings attached
New York City is one of many areas across the country offering guaranteed basic income to low-income residents.
Some people are being given thousands of dollars with no strings attached in universal basic income trials. They mostly spend the cash wisely.
Interest in universal basic income has grown due to the pandemic, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and economic pain.
Seattle basic income pilot shows increased employment and larger paychecks
Riko Niyomwungere is a North Seattle College student who participated in a recent guaranteed basic income pilot.
A San Antonio grandmother used guaranteed basic income to afford groceries and rent a house: ‘It’s changed my station in life’
Ingrid Sullivan, 48, was able to afford rent and groceries with San Antonio’s basic-income program.
Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net
Christopher Santiago recalls being skeptical the first time he heard about basic income — giving people cash with no conditions on how to spend it.
El Monte guaranteed basic income pilot program shows signs of success
The programs tracked participants spending on debit cards and found most spent it on basic needs like food, rent and gas.
San Antonio experimented with giving people $5,108 no-strings-attached. They spent it on housing and school supplies for their kids.
San Antonio gave low-income residents $5,108 each in a guaranteed basic income pilot. They used the money to pay for housing and other necessities.