Guaranteed Income

What is Guaranteed Income?

A Guaranteed Income is a monthly, cash payment given directly to individuals. It is unconditional, with no strings attached and no work requirements. Guaranteed Income is focused on serving populations that are disproportionately affected by economic challenges. It is not a replacement for wages but a much-needed supplement to families who desperately need a financial safety net.

What are the Benefits?

Research shows that Guaranteed Income projects result in lower poverty and debt; higher earnings and savings; a stronger local economy; and improved mental health. See the research below on outcomes from previous unconditional cash payment projects like Guaranteed Income below.

Housing

How one universal basic income experiment is helping the homeless get off the streets

Highlights: Miracle Money, a pilot program that gave $500 monthly to 14 unhoused individuals discovered that “35% of the participants were able to use that monthly income to secure permanent housing.” Read Full Report

Signposts to Success: Report of a BICN Survey of Ontario Basic Income Recipients

Highlight: A survey of participants in the  NIT  pilot  in  Ontario,  Canada, found  that  58.5%  reported  improvements  in  their housing situations as a result of the program since the income from the NIT pilot was higher than the income from pre-existing income support programs. Read Full Report

The Effect of Income on Housing Instability and Living Arrangements: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Highlight: Results from a study of the Earned Income Tax Credit suggest that “a $1,000 increase in the EITC improves housing outcomes by reducing frequent moves, housing cost burden, the number of people in the household, and crowding. Increases in the EITC also reduce doubling up (living with additional, non-nuclear family adults) and three-generation/multigenerational co-residence, indicating that mothers prefer to live independently.” Read Full Report

What happened after these unhoused people got monthly $500 checks? Two-thirds have homes

Highlight: Results from this study showed that 77% of recipients experienced lower levels of psychological distress and 100% of recipients felt more financially secure. Read Full Report

Education and Child Development

The Long Term Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families

Highlight: Research on the Mothers Pension Program demonstrated that the “male children of mothers receiving additional income obtained one-third more years of schooling, were less likely to be underweight, and had higher income in adulthood than children of mothers who applied to receive this income but were not accepted into the program.” Read Full Report

Parents' Incomes and Children's Outcomes: A Quasi-experiment Using Transfer Payments from Casino Profits

Highlight: Studies of parents receiving cash transfer payments from Casino profits show that “children in affected households have higher levels of education in their young adulthood and a lower incidence of criminality for minor offenses.” Read Full Report

Study: Cash aid to poor mothers improved babies' brain functioning

Highlight: Research showed that babies whose mothers received the additional cash displayed more of the fast brain activity that is typically associated with cognitive development. Read Full Report

Financial Resilience

Can Guaranteed Income Help Americans Escape Poverty?

Highlight: Research shows that Guaranteed Income projects result in lower poverty and debt; higher earnings and savings; a stronger local economy; and improved mental health. Read Full Report

The Expanded Child Tax Credit. An American Experiment in Financial Security: What We Learned and What Families Stand to Lose

Highlight: The Child Tax Credit Provided stability and enabled parents to provide necessities such as food, clothes, and other essentials so that children could go to school and parents could go to work.  Empowered members to keep savings balances stable, creating a foundation for long-term financial stability. Read Full Report

Violence Prevention

The Impact of an Experimental Guaranteed Income on Crime and Violence

Highlight: Research from the Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment found a significant negative relationship between income and both violent crime and total crime. Read Full Report

How a basic income could help stop domestic violence

Highlight: An unconditional cash transfer program in Kenya found that when people in a relationship–especially women–received extra money, rates of physical and sexual violence declined. Read Full Report