27 basic and guaranteed income programs where cities and states give direct payments to residents, no strings attached
Jason Lalljee
- Guaranteed income programs provide hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to participants.
- The programs became even more popular during the pandemic as it became clear how much direct checks help.
The concept of a "universal basic income" has inspired widespread interest in recent years.
More than interest — when former US presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced that a UBI program of $1,000 direct payments to citizens every month would be the keystone policy of his platform, he drew an unexpected amount of grassroots support in a crowded primary year. Guaranteed income programs have been gaining even more traction during the pandemic, which took a particular toll on low-wage workers and threw many Americans into poverty. At least 11 direct-cash experiments went into effect this year, Bloomberg estimated in January.
Former Stockton, California mayor Michael Tubbs, took the idea to the next level by launching the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income network. As of this year, there are 60 mayors in the program, advocating — and launching pilot programs for — guaranteed income for their residents. California recently launched the first statewide guaranteed income program in the US, providing up to $1000 per month to qualifying pregnant people and young adults leaving the foster care system.
The basic income program that Tubbs launched in Stockton in 2019, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, has been considered the model for other cities that have followed in its footsteps, offering low-income residents hundreds of dollars a month and measuring their job prospects, financial stability, and overall well-being afterward. According to SEED, participants improved in all those metrics.
Nika Soon-Shiong, a co-director of the Compton, California, guaranteed income program Compton Pledge, told Insider in November that basic income programs help people who are typically shut out of welfare programs.
"Guaranteed income makes a case for investing in our undocumented neighbors and formerly incarcerated residents," Soon-Shiong she said. "In doing so, it addresses the reality of the nation's fragmented, punitive welfare structure."
This kind of program isn't a new idea, however. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Casino Dividend in North Carolina has been giving tribal members annual funds since 1997, for instance. Alaska has been paying residents out of its oil dividends since 1982. Canada ran basic income experiments in the 1970s. The general idea of providing people with a universal basic income is itself hundreds of years of old.
Here's a look at all the active or recently active guaranteed income programs in the US, in no particular order.
Compton, California
Program name: Compton Pledge
Duration: December 2020 to December 2022
Income amount: $1,800 every three months for 2 years
Number of participants: 800
Stockton, California
Program name: SEED (Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration)
Duration: February 2019 to February 2021
Income amount: $500 every month for 2 years
Number of participants: 125
Alaska
Program name: Alaska Permanent Fund
Duration: Annual
Income amount: Based on the annual dividend from state-owned oil companies, ranged from roughly $2,000 per person in 2015 to $800 in years with lower gas prices
Number of participants: Alaska residents
North Carolina, Cherokee Tribe
Program name: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Casino Dividend
Duration: Annual
Income amount: $4,000 - $6,000 per year
Number of participants: Every tribal member
Oakland, California
Program name: Oakland Resilient Families
Duration: Summer 2020 to present
Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months
Number of participants: 600
Richmond, Virginia
Program name: Richmond Resilience Initiative
Duration: October 2020 to December 2022
Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 55
Columbia, South Carolina
Program name: Columbia Life Improvement Monetary Boost, in collaboration with the community resource group Midlands Fatherhood Coalition
Duration: Early 2021 to present
Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 100 fathers
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Program name: Assured Cash Experiment PGH (AcePGH)
Duration: Late 2020 to late 2022
Income amount: $500 for 2 years
Number of participants: 200
Alexandria, Virginia
Program name: Alexandria Guaranteed Income Pilot
Duration: December 2021 to December 2023
Income amount: $500 every month for 24 months
Number of participants: 15o
Hudson, New York
Program name: HudsonUp
Duration: 2020 until 2025
Income amount: $500 per month for 5 years
Number of participants: 25
Paterson, New Jersey
Program name: Guaranteed Income
Duration: July 2021 to July 2022
Income amount: $400 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 110
Newark, New Jersey
Program name: Newark Movement for Economic Equity
Duration: Fall 2021 to fall 2022
Income amount: Bi-weekly payments of $250 and semi-annual payments of $3,000 over a two-year period
Number of participants: 400
Jackson, Mississippi
Program name: Magnolia Mother's Trust
Duration: December 2018 to present
Income amount: $1000 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 110 low-income African-American mothers
St. Paul, Minnesota
Program name: People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot
Duration: October 2020 to May 2022
Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months
Number of participants: 150
Lynn, Massachusetts
Program name: Family Health Project
Duration: May 2021 to May 2024 (at least)
Income amount: $400 per month to new moms for a child's first 3 years
Number of participants: 15
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Program name: Cambridge Recurring Income for Success and Empowerment
Duration: June 2021 to December 2022
Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months
Number of participants: 120
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Program name: Direct Assistance Stipend Program
Duration: November 2020 to present
Income amount: Between $200 and $400 per month
Number of participants: 2,040
Gary, Indiana
Program name: Guaranteed Income Validation Effort
Duration: Spring 2021 to winter 2022 (at least)
Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 100
Gainesville, Florida
Program name: Just Income GNV
Duration: Winter 2021/2022 to Early 2023
Income amount: $1000, then $600 per month for 11 months
Number of participants: 115 formerly incarcerated people
Santa Clara County, California
Program name: County of Santa Clara's Basic Income Pilot
Duration: June 2020 to early 2022
Income amount: Up to $1,000 per month
Number of participants: 2,400 to 2,500 young adults transitioning out of foster care
Marin County, California
Program name: n/a
Duration: 2021 to 2023
Income amount: $1,000 per month for 2 years
Number of participants: 125 women of color raising at least one child under the age of 18
South San Francisco, California
Program name: The South San Francisco Guaranteed Income Program.
Duration: October 2021 to October 2022
Income amount: $500 per month for 12 months
Number of participants: 135
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Program name: Big Leap
Duration: January 2022 to January 2023
Income amount: $1,000 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: Approx. 3,000
Long Beach, California
Program name: n/a
Duration: Fall 2021 to fall 2022
Income amount: $500 per month for 1 year
Number of participants: 500
California
Program name: n/a
Duration: Indefinite. Local government agencies and organizations apply for state funding and set up programs at the local level.
Income amount: Up to $1000 per month
Number of participants: Former foster youth and qualifying pregnant people
San Francisco, California
Program name: Oakland Resilient Families
Duration: Summer 2020 to present
Income amount: $500 per month for 18 months
Number of participants: 600
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