They also have to navigate deeply rooted cultural stigmas. They have to keep goals narrow and administrative costs low, to maximize the cash going out to individuals. Programs are often constrained by time and money. And, because of the unconditional nature of income versus other social welfare, recipients reported improved feelings of individual agency.īut turning those short-term pilots into long-term state or federal policy is more difficult than just collecting more evaluative data. Anecdotally, participants said they could plan beyond the day-to-day, start to pay off bills, and save money for grad school or a business. While data varies from city to city, preliminary results show an overwhelming benefit: After only a year’s distribution of $500 checks to low-income residents in Hudson, New York, the program found that employment more than doubled among recipients, from 29% to 63%.
