Sometimes giving people metaphorical fish is exactly the help they need. The pilot is just one of several dozen projects across the country challenging traditional American notions of what public benefit programs should look like. Guaranteed income differs from programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TANF and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP , which often require cumbersome reporting and have myriad qualifying requirements that experts say can become barriers to those who need the benefits most.
Crowe says the City expects to receive thousands of applications. Participants will be selected through a randomized lottery and applications will open later this fall with payments starting in January Crowe says that in addition to providing these types of immediate and tangible benefits to participants, she also hopes the program will help City processes become more equitable and challenge assumptions some community members might have about one another.
In , a pilot program in Stockton, California, was one of the first guaranteed income projects to launch in the U. Since the Stockton pilot, more than three dozen guaranteed income pilots have launched across the country from Birmingham, Alabama, to Newark, New Jersey, to San Diego, California. Preliminary results from a pilot in Denver offering guaranteed income to people experiencing homelessness show that participants used the money to meet immediate basic needs and plan for the future, with positive outcomes for their mental health and children or family members.
Are they gonna do drugs? Does it make them better off? The SEED pilot, for example, found that participants were significantly more likely to find full-time employment compared to the control group.
I need to get food on the table. You need that to function as a parent. However, Jeffrey Zax, a CU Boulder professor of economics who specializes in labor economics, says guaranteed income programs have the potential for disincentivizing work.
