Image: “All of these pilots are seeking to demonstrate what’s possible across the country for state and federal policy,” said Sean Kline, associate director of the Stanford Basic Income Lab. (Shutterstock)
To read more of the CalMatters article, please click here.
State and local governments, and some private funders, are launching dozens of pilot projects making direct, monthly payments to low-income residents to help meet basic needs. Researchers will study what happens next. Key question: will this money add to, reform, or supplant current welfare programs?
Four years after Stockton conducted a nationally-watched experiment, giving 125 households $500 a month with no strings attached, dozens of programs throughout California are testing the idea of a guaranteed income.
CalMatters identified more than 40 similar pilot programs that have run, are operating or are planning tolaunch around the state. They are sending certain groups of low-income people regular, unrestricted cash payments ranging from $300 to $1,800 a month for periods of six months to three years, depending on the program.
In all, the programs represent the largest modern U.S. experiment in unrestricted cash payments, with more than 12,000 Californians expected to receive more than $180 million in public and private funds. Nowhere else have so many guaranteed income pilot programs launched at the same pace.
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