O
ver the past five years, pilot programs in 150 cities have been handing out cash — no strings attached — to low-income Americans. The money, known as a Guaranteed Basic Income, is generally awarded for a year or two in monthly payments of $500 to $1,000. The goal has been to test a simple but controversial proposition: that supplementing America’s existing safety net with direct payments to individuals can help lift people out of poverty, strengthen families, and close the racial and gender gaps.
To see how the programs are working, we interviewed dozens of participants from a wide range of backgrounds and circumstances. Some were working multiple jobs to keep their families afloat. Others were transitioning to a new career, or getting out of an abusive relationship, or reuniting with their children after overcoming addiction.
What we found is that a guaranteed income — even a small one — can have a profound impact on people’s lives. The money not only helps recipients pay for basic necessities — heat, groceries, gas, car repairs — it also provides them with a greater degree of financial flexibility and autonomy, enabling them to make choices they otherwise couldn’t have afforded.
A new mother extended her maternity leave to six months. An ex-convict signed up for health insurance and started therapy. A dad was able to spend less time on side hustles and took up camping with his kids. Little things that make a world of difference.
To be sure, the guaranteed income isn’t enough to guarantee a better life. Jessica Nairns, who was receiving $1,000 a month, lost her job with a mutual aid group in Austin mid-way through the program and ended up living in a homeless encampment. “I think the program is intended to give a little bit of a leg up to people who are already in a stable situation,” she says. “I needed a whole leg up.”
But most recipients found the monthly support incredibly valuable, even if it didn’t immediately end their financial struggles. “It’s like when you take a Tylenol,” says Raven Smith, a mother in Portland who put some of the $500 a month she received toward earning her associate’s degree in mental health, social service, and addiction counseling. “The income makes the pain a little bit more tolerable, but it doesn’t take it completely away. When you don’t have much, anything is better than nothing.”
Credits
Reporting: Noah Sheidlower, Katie Balevic
Editing: Edith Honan, Sophie Kleeman
Design and development: Kim Nguyen, Rebecca Zisser, Isabel Fernandez-Pujol
Photography: Jovelle Tamayo, Tim Evans, Helynn Ospina, Andre Chung , Brittany Greeson, Libby March
